Cyber Life, Cyber Love
by Rosabelle Meave Sterling
Summary: Rose was a normal girl who had a younger sister. The only thing is her father designed a cyber world, sent her in, & 14 years later she's still there wanting to live her life normally again with the help of a certain Samurai. UlrichxOC Reviews are welcome
1. 1: Prologue

"Daddy I want to help you! Please let me go in daddy. Then you can know what it looks like there and I can over see the program."

"Belle, I'm not going to put you in there. I wouldn't know how to get you out and I don't even think I can get you in. Why don't you go and watch your sister?"

"All right daddy, I'll watch Lita," I reply walking to the elevator.

"That's my good girl Belle. And I'll keep your offer in mind, don't forget to do your homework," daddy calls to me before the doors close. Listening to the elevator rise up to the main floor I can't help but feel like something is familiar. The massive doors open wide onto the huge, open, empty space of the factory floor and I walk out into it, climb up the ladder, and walk out onto the bridge. As I cross the bridge I look down into the water flowing beneath it.

Staring into the water I think about my little sister and the fact of my father sitting in the factory at that computer every day and me taking on the role of a mother to my little sister. Ever since she was taken I've been her mother. Taking care of her, helping her with her homework, and even teaching her things that's not even my job. I walk home and pass the school that my father teaches at. My hair whips past me catching the sunlight turning it from the flat dark brown to a dark brown with coppery red and golden blonde highlights. My turquoise skirt flaps at my knees as the wind whirls around me. I walk home and reach the gate with a name plate for our home. The plate reads, "Hermitage". I open the gate, walk through, close it behind me, and see my little sister running towards me.

"Rosie, Rosie I need your help!" she yells, running across the lawn from the open front door.

"What is wrong Aelita? What happened? What did you do?" I ask her.

"Mister Puck is missing! I can't find him!" She explains to me, tears streaming down her face.

"Awe Aelita, we'll find him. I promise we will. Now where did you last have him?"

"I was playing with him outside, but I remember bringing him inside with me when I needed to come in. But he's not in the house," she tells me through her sobs.

"Aelita, first let's get you cleaned up and changed. You went digging in the dirt after Mister Puck? Oh Aelita what am I going to do with you," I say giggling.

"It's not funny Rose," Aelita says pouting.

"Aelita, you're ten years old and you're out digging in the dirt for Mister Puck when you wouldn't have put him in the ground. You would have remembered that. You haven't dug holes in the yard for a while now. Come on, let's get you inside and once you're clean and have calmed down we can go find Mister Puck. Is that all right with you?" I ask her, grabbing her shoulders and wiping her eyes.

"Ok, Rosie. Can you make me a sandwich?" she asks me quietly.

"Of course I can Lita. Let's go inside and get you your sandwich." I hug the little girl tightly and make my way into the kitchen of our quaint cottage. Aelita sits on a chair and waits patiently as I pull out the bread and other things for her sandwich. She smiles at me as I hum a song as I work and she says, "Sing it Rosie. I like to hear you sing!"

"Beneath the white fire of the moon, love's wings are broken all too soon. We never learn, hurt together hurt alone. Don't you sometimes wish your heart was a heart of stone? We turn the wheel and break the chain…" I sing the song by Cher that had become popular and Aelita started singing with me and we laughed and sang in the kitchen. I handed her the sandwich and she ate it as I sang to her. She smiled and when I finished the song she clapped joyously. "You're gonna be famous one day Rosie. And I want to be just like you," She said as she picked up her sandwich.

I laugh and say, "Lita, you're going to do things no one else ever will. You don't want to be like me. You want to be your own person, but you can come with me when I'm famous."

"Have you seen any scouts for your gymnastics or dancing yet? You're the greatest dancer I've ever seen. Can you teach me? I wanna learn dancing and singing and gymnastics from you," she says raising her sandwich over her head. I giggle and say, "Aelita, you're ten years old and you're acting like you're six. Come on dear, let's be reasonable."

"Sorry Rosie," she says quietly. She eats her sandwich and I pour her a glass of milk to wash down her sandwich. She takes it and takes a big sip. She sets the glass down and I smile seeing her milk mustache. I take a napkin and wipe her mouth to take the white liquid off her lip. I wasn't trying to replace mom in any way but I felt like I had to at some times due to the fact that Aelita needed one.

"I'll teach you some dance but you should learn piano from dad. I learned it and it helps with my dance because I can hear the music in my head and just dance to it like I would if I was dancing with you," I say sweetly looking into her beautiful green eyes. My sapphire blue ones contrast hers greatly and show that we were two different people no matter if she wanted to be like me or not. The home phone rings and I answer it saying, "Hello?"

"Rosabelle, I want you to come to the factory when you get a chance. I need your help," daddy says quickly.

"Yes daddy. I need to help Aelita but I'll be there as soon as I can," I explain swiftly.

"Good. I'll see you when you get here," he says and hangs up the phone. I hang up the phone and see Aelita finishing her milk.

"Are we going to find Mister Puck now?" she asks quickly.

"Yes Aelita we are. Now you had him outside last?"

"Yes I did," she replies sadly.

"Well, let's see if you put him away before you went out to play," I say smiling.

"But I saw him outside!" Aelita insists.

"Just humor me Lita," I reply, walking towards her room. I walk to the mantle and look in the box that she would put him in. He wasn't there. So I look out the window and see the bucket Aelita had been playing with. And in the bucket is Mr. Puck. "Aelita, go and check your bucket," I say happily.

"Ok," She runs out the door and to the bucket. She squeals in delight and jumps up and down holding her doll. I laugh as I watch the pink-haired little girl plays with the doll. I walk outside; she runs to me, hugs me and says, "Thank you Rosie! Thank you so much!"

"You're welcome Lita. Well I have to go see dad ok? If anything happens call dad," I say happily. She releases me and I walk towards the old abandoned factory. I reach the room with dad's supercomputer. "You wanted to see me?"

"Rose, I want you to go in and see how everything is in Lyoko," He says, not even looking at me.

"All right daddy," I say sweetly and I hop back into the elevator and head down to the tall cylindrical objects that dad had called scanners when he showed them to me. I step into one and the doors shut. Suddenly, something starts to happen and the next thing I know, I'm in a new world unlike anything I had seen before.


	2. 2: Allow me to introduce myself

My name is Rosabelle Schaeffer. I'm fourteen, four years older than my sister and have been in My father's creation Lyoko for fourteen years. I was here to oversee the destruction of a project but it never happened. Instead, Dad's program, XANA found me and found out that I held keys to this world. So to get what he wanted, he took me over to an extent and threatened to harm my family that had arrived on Lyoko. The only catch, I couldn't remember who they were, except my father. XANA had taken that memory from me to keep me bound to him. I live in a special sector that my father designed for me due to my inability to become Materialized back to Earth. XANA doesn't know about it nor can he get in. I follow XANA only to save the other member of my family, whoever they are.

I may be working for XANA, but that doesn't mean I'm controlled by him. There is this group of people that keep coming in and then leaving. They might have the key to my escape, and to be honest... I think I actually like one of them...


	3. 3

For fourteen years I've been in here. Fourteen years of seeing the same things day in and day out. Lucky for me I found a web connection and can look for things to do here. I teach myself how to enhance my dancing, gymnastics, and meditation. I walk around the wonderful world that is my home. The waterfalls spew water, sparkling in a sense that it almost seems real. Lyoko hasn't changed at all in these fourteen years I've been here. But, ten years ago two people were virtualized in, only one made it though. Since that day, Xana has had me track her down and try to get her to be on our side. I walk to the edge of my home which is literally shaped like a rose and is a possible rendition of Eden. My father had made it for me when he figured out he couldn't bring me back. It was the only thing that was mine and mine alone.

I walk to the center of the sector and reach the glade. I walk into the middle of it and picture myself in the forest sector. I fall through the floor of the lake and show up inside the familiar cylindrical room with data running up and down the sides. I walk out of the room and find myself in amongst many trees. My black skirt draped over my right leg and exposed my left one to give me the ability to run, jump, cartwheel, or anything I needed to do. My black undershirt slides across my skin and the red corset on the top holds my posture up and hides knives. The black arm bands constrict my arms only slightly yet aid in my aim for my arrows. My long hair rests in its braid down my back while the circlet rests upon my head. The necklace around my neck holds the Eye of Xana, and it allows me to focus my energy to create monsters to protect both me and the mission.

A creature comes towards me. It is a cube with a single white spot on four sides of it. In the center of the white spot there is the Eye. It walks with four spindly legs extending from its bottom plane. The block comes to me and shoots a beam at me, relaying information. Xana wants me to stop the warriors from reaching the activated tower in the Ice Sector. I smile and watch the blok destroy itself by walking over the edge. I walk back into the tower, walk to the edge of the round platform and dive over the side into the abyss of data. I pop back up in a tower in the Ice Sector and walk out to the snowy white landscape. I smile and make my way towards the activated tower. I create a krab to help me get there faster. Granted, I don't like Xana, but these warriors were always trying to kill me. I haven't done anything to hurt them, but they insist on killing me. The Samurai looking warrior I have started to fancy. He doesn't really hurt me. He even talks to me while we fight and gives me chances to get away. I see the four humans traveling parallel to me and speed up to head them off. We get in their way and they skid to a halt.

"Did you really think you could outsmart me? Come on, when will you learn?" I taunt. The purple cat-like human, the black haired girl, the pink haired girl, and the samurai look at me in astonishment.

"Look, just let us go and we won't have to hurt you," the black haired girl says to me.

"Oh I don't think so. But, you could turn around and go home and my monsters won't have to devirtualize you. How does that sound?" I toy.

"Over my dead body," the cat human says. He raises his arm and points his fist at me saying, "Laser Arrow."

I jump down from the crab and slide back a few yards. I materialize my bow and take aim through the crab's legs. I draw the string back and let the arrow fly. It nearly misses the cat human which is what I meant for it to do. Xana sends three blocks and another crab to help me fight them off. The two girls duck for cover behind an ice wall. I follow them with my eyes and the boys are too busy fighting the monsters to take notice to me. I return my bow to my back and grab my circular chakram from my belt and run towards my target, the little pink haired girl, named Aelita. The name rang a bell in the far, distant reaches of my mind but I could never tell why. I get in front of the ice wall and silently sneak behind them.

"Think you can hide from me dear? I'm the queen here darling. You cannot hide from the queen."

"You're so full of yourself," the dark haired girl stands up, unfurls her two fans and throws them at me. I take my chakram and hold it up, blocking the fans and causing them to fall away and skitter farther from her in the ice. "Yumi, what are you going to do?" Aelita asks her.

"She can't really do anything now can she?" I say laughing.

Yumi puts her hands to her temples and focuses intently. A block of ice comes hurtling towards me controlled by Yumi. I focus my energy and take control of the ice and disintegrate it. I walk to Yumi's fans, pick them up, and throw them into the digital sea that surrounds the sector, and every sector. Yumi was now left defenseless and I knew she'd still try to protect Aelita. She was Aelita's friend and that is something I admired. The boys fought the monsters and the cat human was devirtualized. "Odd!" Aelita calls out to the vanishing boy.

The samurai finishes the last of my monsters and then sprints towards me, his sword out in front of him preparing to fight me. I raise my chakram and prepare to fight. He leaps into the air and I dodge his landing. I smile at him and reach to my back, grabbing a sword almost identical to his.

"We should stop meeting like this. It's in poor taste that we continue this way," I taunt him.

"Well I'm sorry you think that way," He replies, shifting his sword to his other hand.

"Now let's see if you have enough to fight me and save your friends." I take my stance and watch him move. We circle one another for a bit before he charges at me. I raise my sword and block his attack. Sliding back a bit on the ice I straighten up and throw my chakram at him. He dodges it and races towards me. I follow the chakram with my eyes and turn it towards the girl called Yumi. The Samurai brings his blade down right next to me. I smile and kick the blade out of his hand and then wheel around and kick him, sending him sliding back about three yards. I place a hand on my necklace and conjure up two more blocks sending them to follow the girls. They stand as sentinels in front of the tower, glowing red with malice. The blocks fire lasers at the girls and they hit Yumi who moved to block Aelita. A sudden surge of feeling coursed through my body. I felt sad that she had to be devirtualized and alone that I had no one to care about me like that.

I fall to my knees from the emotions reeling inside of me. Anger flooded through me making me wonder what I had done to be left alone and why in the world I would feel sorry for people who tried to kill me. I slump over feeling things I couldn't fathom and suddenly a hand is on my back. I stand up with a start and see the samurai looking at me concerned.

"Are you ok?" he asks me.

"Aren't you going to try to get rid of me? That's your job isn't it?" I reply snapping at him.

"You aren't doing anything that requires me to try to get rid of you. By the way, my name's Ulrich," he says extending his hand. I look at his hand and then back to him, eyeing him warily. He lowers his hand, understanding that I didn't want to shake his hand. "What's your name?" he asks trying to get me to talk.

I look around and suddenly feel something happen. I see a block virtualize behind Ulrich and start to shoot lasers at him. He didn't pay any attention so I quickly push him out of the way and take the shots meant for him. Each shot pushes me to the edge of the sector and drops my life points. At the edge of the sector I sway forwards and back trying to gain balance but my life points have been so depleted I'll be lucky if I can get to a tower to get back to my sector. Finally, I give up trying to fight a losing battle and fall backwards; knowing XANA wouldn't let me fall into the Digital Sea.

A hand grasps my arm and pulls me back to the sector. I look into Ulrich's face and question, "Why did you-"

He looks at me and then starts to devirtualize. I look around and notice the block had disappeared and that Aelita had come out of the tower. Ulrich Devirtualized completely and I look at Aelita, feeling something towards her like a protective instinct. I couldn't understand why but I felt that I needed Ulrich and Aelita, but for what? I see Aelita standing there looking at me to see if I would attack her or not. Due to my decreased life points I can't really do much. I stand up, conjure a crab, sit on top of it and ride it to a deactivated tower, away from Aelita. I'm not in the mood to fight anyway.


	4. 4

After sitting in my sector for an unfathomable amount of time I get the urge to go out into the forest sector. I walk to the glade and send myself to a tower in the forest sector. I look around and hear something whirring behind me. I dodge to the left and see a pink disc fly past my right ear and move to come back behind me. I sandwich the disk between my hands and it stops moving, not hurting me. I then look it over and see that it's one of the fans from Yumi.

She looks at me, awed that I could stop her fans. Aelita comes up behind her and Yumi hold another one of the fans in her hand. I look at Aelita and stand there, not doing a thing. Waiting for Yumi to attack me she asks, "What? No fun and games today?"

I just look at the pink haired girl and ignore the question posed to me. Aelita starts to walk forward and I see hornets coming in behind them. I take Yumi's fan, unfurl it, and throw it like my chakram towards the hornets. It collides with their Eye and they explode. Yumi throws her other fan and hits me in the torso. I double over losing life points and I hear Aelita say, "Yumi! She helped us."

"Get to the tower," I cough.

"Why should we bother with you?" Yumi asks suspiciously.

"If you don't, Ulrich will die," I reply viciously.

"How do you-" Yumi starts.

"I know everything that Xana does. Now go. Hit me one more time, make sure it's a good hit," I explain. She cocks her head and Aelita grabs her fan and does as I ordered. The fan slices my abdomen and then cuts across my back on the return trip. I fall to my knees and they run past. Aelita bends down and whispers, "Thank you."

I nod and she runs to the tower. I know I'm going to be in trouble for this, but there is something about Aelita that I cannot help but feel. Her friend Yumi walks back to me and helps me up. I cock my head and say, "Why are you helping me?"  
>"Because, you helped save my friend. I may not like or trust you, but I'll respect that you're trying to make amends. Anyway, can you tell me anything about Ulrich?"<p>

"He's been infected by some virus. XANA possessed him momentarily, leaving a deadly virus in him. There isn't an antidote available; you need to make sure Aelita gets to the tower to save his life. Go!" I say looking up above and seeing a crab heading towards us. I vault her over my head and turn to look like I was fighting her. The crab stands down and I pull my chakram and start to throw it at her. She runs and the crab starts to follow and I kill it saying, "I'll take care of this XANA."

I follow after Yumi and I see the tower go from red to white. I knew I was too late and that XANA would have a field day blaming me for this. Granted, I did let them go but, there's just something about these visitors that I find interesting. Yumi looks at me and says, "You aren't really evil are you?"

"I can be and have been. I just don't want to be," I say quietly.

"Then work with us, help us fight XANA," she pleads.

"I can't. He owns me and threatens to harm my family if I don't do as he instructs," I say sadly.

"Your family? Where are they?" Yumi asks quickly.

"I don't know. But he does, and I just want to meet them," I reply hushed.

"I have to go, but I'll see what my friends can do about your family and getting rid of XANA," she says as she Devirtualizes. I look around and see Aelita walking towards me. I quickly turn around and run off.

"Wait!" she yells. I slow down and finally stop in my place.

"What?" I ask her angrily.

"Why aren't you trying to kill us like normal? Why aren't you harming my friends like you used to do? Why aren't you trying to take me like you used to?" She asks quickly.

"I've watched you and realized things. I'm not sure but, I'm probably going to have to start harming your friends again. I'm sorry. The next time you see them, tell them that for me. That I'm sorry for what I have to do," I say hanging my head. I quickly turn around and bolt off towards a tower and send myself back home. Sitting at the edge of the glade I bend in two trying to figure out how I could be feeling these things and why all of the sudden I could. If fourteen years I hadn't felt them, but now I feel them.

I smirk and just look around. I head through the woods in the sector and towards my castle. Father had told me that as Queen of Lyoko I would have a castle all my own. He modeled it after the castle in an old fairytale. He made it have towers and a ballroom. The only thing wrong with it, was that I had no one to share it with, no one to come and dance with me. I walk into the entrance and pull up a holoscreen connecting me to the internet. I find a link to something on my screen. I follow the link and it's a way to get materialized into the real world. A message pops up from my father and it says,

"Rosabelle, this is what have discovered so far. I'm sorry I cannot get you out of Lyoko. I wish I could, but at the present time I am not sure how I can. Rosabelle, take this information and place it in a tower only you can use and see if you can find a way to materialize yourself. My dear daughter, I'm sorry you have been stuck there. Please forgive me." Attached to the message were codes and other information. I quickly run to the glade with the information in the holoscreen and into my tower.

I place the information in the tower in a part of Lyoko's mainframe that only I could access. With the information in there most of the missing pieces fill in. There were still a few that couldn't be explained and I would have to work on. I sit in the tower for a few days and finally show myself in Lyoko when I get bored. There, right before my eyes are the team of warriors. Only the purple cat human arms himself against me.

"Come on you guys, let's go another way," he says.

"There is no other way," Aelita says simply.

"Well then, I guess we will get a fight after all," he says ready to shoot me at any second.

I raise my hands up to be even with my face and a pose of surrender. "Look, I don't want to fight. I'm looking for information and I don't think you all can help me. So I'm just going to be on my way," I say hoping to not have to fight.

"Well I don't think so Scarlett. Laser arrow," the boy says shooting an arrow at me. I stand there frozen for a second and then am knocked down by something. I look up and see Ulrich lying on top of me. I blush slightly and Ulrich does the same before quickly standing up and pulling me along. As we separate the boy, Odd if I remember what Aelita called him, yells, "What are you doing Ulrich? She's dangerous, always trying to get Aelita and devirtualizing us."

"I'd just like to point something out," I say quietly.

"No!" Odd yells at me. I cock an eyebrow and clench my fists. "You are as bad as XANA and we shouldn't be talking but fighting you." Behind him materializes four kankralats and two krabs. I lay my hand on my chakram on my hip. Ulrich looks at me and then follows my gaze, starting to draw his sword. I quickly handspring forward, vaulting over the group and in front of the monsters. I quickly throw my chakram devirtualizing the monsters before they have a chance to fire on the group.

"I suggest you go quickly. XANA will send more monsters to impede your progress. Get her into the tower," I say replacing my chakram to its holder on my belt. I turn around to see the group looking at me in awe. "What? I told you I didn't want to fight and that I need information. And now that I think about it… you all might be able to help me, maybe. Anyway… you may want to get Aelita to the tower as fast as you can. Or would you rather me take her? They'd think it's a part of XANA's plan. I always have to take her into the tower nearest the activated one anyway. So what'll it be groupies?"

"We'll take her. I don't trust you fully yet," Yumi says diplomatically.

"I'll stay with her to help fight off the monsters. You and Odd can take Aelita," Ulrich says. I look at him confused by his gallant offer.

Yumi nods and starts to run off with Aelita and Odd in tow. Ulrich looks at me and says, "I never got your name."

" You seemed to have already named me and it's quite close actually," I say smiling slightly.

"Really? So what is your name?" Ulrich persists stepping closer to me.

"I don't think I'll tell you just yet. I like the name Scarlett. It's like_ Gone with the Wind_. So I guess I'm almost living it," I say smiling sweetly walking away from him. I feel a hand on my shoulder and turn around seeing him looking confused.

"You are a confusing person you know that right?"

"Yes, and I make use of it quite frequently," I reply smiling.

"What were you going to point out to Odd?" He asks removing his hand from my shoulder.

"I am never the one to devirtualize you. I may hit you and make it easy for the monsters to do it, but I have never devirtualized one of you in all the many times you came here," I say quietly.

"Do you have a purpose for working with XANA?" Ulrich asks me looking very concerned.

"He has things of mine. I don't know what exactly but I know he has things of mine because he says I'll get them back when I deliver Aelita to him. He also has my father somewhere. I don't know where but somewhere. And he threatens to hurt him if I don't follow his orders." I sit down on a log and continue, "But my purpose is to bring Aelita to XANA. I don't know what he wants with her but, I know he wants her."

"How did XANA get you?"

"I don't remember. And why do you care anyway?" I ask quickly.

"I just do," he snaps at me. Behind him a see a Megatank rolling up, it stops, opens up and prepares to fire at us. I leap up from my seat and push him out of the way. The beam runs right through where he would have been standing. It closes up and turns towards us. I hold up my chakram, knowing that the beam stayed in one continuous line it wouldn't go through the center. The beam hits the disc and I push it backward into the monster. Ulrich throws his saber and gets the monster right in the Eye. It blows up and Ulrich pulls me to him. I look up into his eyes and try not to smile. I'm their enemy after all. I can't fall for the hero, not if I want to save my family. He just looks into my eyes and says, "Go find your information."

"You actually might be able to help me," I say quietly.

"How?" He asks releasing me and stepping back, embarrassed about our closeness.

"You aren't permanently here are you?" I ask shyly.

"No, my friend Jeremy virtualizes us, my two friends and I and we are devirtualized when the tower is deactivated or when we lose to many life points," He explains simply.

"I thought so. Do you use a factory to get in here?" I ask without thinking.

"Yes, we do. How do you know about that?" He asks quickly.

"I've been in here a lot longer than you've known about this place. Trust me, I know you all use the supercomputer to get in here and I know you haven't yet learned all the secrets of Lyoko," I say quietly.

"My friend Jeremy talks to us here and he wants you to help us," he pleads.

"Why should I? You'll just take my help and then hurt me when my back is turned," I say quietly, turning around to walk away.

"No, we won't. We don't know all of the secrets of this place and you seem to. We want to stop XANA, materialize Aelita, and shut down the supercomputer," Ulrich explains.

"Thanks but, somehow… I think when you says stop XANA, you mean stop XANA and me. So I don't think I'll be helping anyone unless someone helps me," I say bitterly. I run away and into the nearest tower, knowing Ulrich couldn't follow me to my destination. I fall over the side of the platform and rise out of my glade.

None of those people could understand the pain of being here for over a decade with no real memory of what in all your life was prior to this. No memory of how you came to be here, or your family. I grit my teeth and deal with everything that happened today.


	5. 5

I scour the supercomputer's data from a link in my sector. There had to be some way to get me out! Leaving the window open and walking around my sector I head towards my glade and decide to go for a run on Lyoko. I wade into the glade and end up in the mountain sector. _Good, mountains for me to climb, paths for me to run on, and no pesky-_ an arrow shoots right by me from behind. I look around and see the warriors running towards me and Odd firing arrows at me. I start to dodge them as Ulrich steps in front of me and deflects the arrows. Stunned I look at him and say, "What are you doing?"

He looks over his shoulder, smiles, and says, "I'm helping you." If I could blush I knew at this moment I would be. I smile at him and look to see monsters behind the group. I get out my chakram and throw it at the gaining Bloks and hornets. It collides with all of them destroying the monsters. I get hit in the back by a rogue laser and the Blok self destructs. XANA apparently doesn't like me getting hit. I smiles at that and grab Aelita's hand. "Come with me, we need to get you to that tower," I say quietly.

"Then let's go," Ulrich says taking my other hand and running with me. Taken aback by the brash action I run alongside him in front of Aelita. I create a few monsters to aid us in our trek that run behind us and fire at the opposing monsters. We run to the tower and Aelita stands outside.

"Go on, get in the tower!" I say.

"Ulrich, will you tell her?" Aelita asks quickly.

"Yes, I will, now go princess," he says ushering her in. She nods and runs into the tower.

"What are you supposed to tell me?" I ask quietly.

"My friend, Jeremy, he's trying to make a program to Materialize Aelita. He can't find everything he needs and since you know your way around, he'd like your help. And, the other time we talked, I didn't mean stopping you and XANA, just XANA. You've been a great help these times. Jeremy wants you to come back with us, I want you to come back," he explains.

"Ulrich, that's sweet, but I don't think I can. I'll see what I can find though," I say sadly.

"Jeremy says that we'll do whatever it takes to get you out with us," he replies, placing his hands on my shoulders.

"Your other friends don't like me, so why would they help?"

"Because, majority wins and if you know about Lyoko, you're valuable," Ulrich says. "They'll just have to deal."

I smile and pull up a window into the super computer. "Are you Jeremy?"

"Yes, are you Scarlett?" the blonde boy with glasses answers.

"Yes, here's information to materialize Aelita. It'll make only one program for one application, use it on her," I say sadly sending the information I had gathered.

Jeremy looks at it and says, "Where did you get this?"

"I dig around the supercomputer's mainframe. And I have a good source. Finish your program and get Aelita out of here!"

"We want to bring you out too!"

"Deal with that later! Take her out now!" I yell. I look around and feel Ulrich back to back with me. I hear the monsters start attacking us.

"Starting the program now!" I smile as I hear those words and I turn around sending my chakram into the Eye.

"That is cool," Ulrich says.

"Maybe I can teach you some time you're here," I reply smiling.

"I'd like that," Ulrich replies quietly, smiling.

"We did it! You all can come home!" Jeremy says through the link.

I look at Ulrich and say, "Good bye Ulrich. I might not see you again."

Before he can say goodbye he devirtualizes. I frown and head back to my sector sad that I won't be able to get out.


	6. 6

I wander around my sector for a few minutes before something happens. I start to feel different and the next thing I know is I wake up inside one of the cylindrical tubes that I hadn't seen in fourteen years. I stand up and look around at the scanner room. Nothing had changed since I last saw it!

I step out and notice that I'm still wearing my knee length turquoise skirt and lavender sequined blouse. I twirl around and move to the elevator and take it all the way up. I step out of the factory and look at the water around it. From there I walk to the old house I lived in and see it in disarray and abandoned. _Dad would have never let it get like this._ I smiles to myself and wander around the grounds of the house eventually moving towards the school grounds.

"Excuse me Miss, what are you doing out here?" I hear an adult say behind me.

"I was just out for a walk. I'm sorry if I have interrupted anything," I reply quickly, turning around to face my guest.

"Are you, Rosabelle Sterling?" The man asks me.

"Yes I am, may I help you?" I reply confused.

"We got your transcripts and are expecting you. If you come with me, I'll take you to your room," The man says walking ahead of me.

"Thank you?" I say following after him.

"I'm Jim Morales, the gym teacher here at Kadic academy. I will take you to your room and to see Mr. Delmas, the principal," He states simply.

"It's nice to meet you Mr. Morales," I say quietly.

"Call me Jim, everyone else does," he replies sweetly.

"All right Jim." We walk to a room with a single bed and Jim says, "This will be your room. I hope you find it comfortable here."

"Thank you. I will be," I say shyly.

"Let's take you to see Mr. Delmas and then I have to get back to a class I'm teaching," Jim says whisking me off to an office. We walk into the office to find a dark haired man on the phone with someone dealing with an issue. Jim leaves me in the office and walks back to his class. Looking around the simple office makes me remember home, not incredibly decorated, not Spartan.

"Thank you and goodbye," the man says hanging up the phone. He looks at me and says, "You must be Miss Rosabelle Sterling."

I nod in reply. He smiles and replies, "I am Mr. Delmas, the principal here at Kadic Academy. We have been waiting for you for a few days now. I am glad you could join us."

"Thank you sir," I respond shyly.

"Come dear, there is no need for you to be frightened. I will introduce you to my daughter and take you around the campus to show you what your classes will look like." He gets up from his desk and walks to me. I watch him with confusion and discomfort as he leads me around the campus. He explains to me all of the procedures of the school and the rules.


	7. 7

We finally reach the gym where a class is being held.

"Excuse me Jim, would you mind me interrupting for a moment?" Mr. Delmas says.

"Not at all Mr. Delmas," Jim replies, halting his demonstration of something.

"Students, this is Miss Sterling I'm sure some of you may have heard of her," He says.

"You're the viral singer!" A girl with long dark hair says in an annoying voice. "Daddy, Is she here to sing?"

"Elizabeth she is here to attend classes," Mr. Delmas replies. He looks at me and says, "My daughter, Elizabeth Delmas."

"It's so nice to meet you," She says grinning widely. "You know if you need any help with singing or stuff you let me know."

"Thanks, but I came here to get away from fans. No one knows I'm here. I just want to be normal, you can understand that right?" I say smiling.

Elizabeth stands there stunned as her father continues, "I'd like for you to make her comfortable here and give her any help she desires." He looks down at me and says, "You will start your classes here today. I hope everything is to your liking."

"Thank you Mr. Delmas," I say and he walks away, leaving me in a crowd of people I had no idea of who they were.

"Miss Sterling, would you like to try this or would you like to watch?" Jim asks me.

"What am I trying?" I reply smiling.

"You are trying to waltz," He returns.

"Oh that's simple!" I say laughing.

"You know how to waltz?" He asks incredulously.

"Of course, doesn't everyone?" I ask confused.

"No, then will you please demonstrate with me," He says leading me out in front of the group.

"Sure," I reply following him.

"Now what you want to do is make sure you and your partner have frame," Jim says moving me into the traditional frame of waltz. He continues explaining things and I start to day dream. Finally I hear a question directed at me and nod yes. Jim pushes me and we start in our box step. "You are very good at this," He says smiling.

"Thank you," I reply sweetly. We stop and Jim instructs them to partner up and practice the box step. I look around and see that everyone is partnered up, leaving me alone like always. "Miss Sterling and I will come around and help you if you need any help," Jim says loudly.

I look around and see Elizabeth with someone who looked absolutely displeased with his partner. Something about him seemed familiar but I can't put my finger on it. "Ulrich quit stepping on my toes," Elizabeth says.

"I'm not stepping on your toes Sissy, you're stepping on mine," he replies agitated. I walk over quickly and say, "May I cut in?"

"No, we're doing just fine," Sissy says.

"I actually think we need help Sissy. Could you see what we're doing wrong?" he asks shyly.

"Sure, please, go ahead," I say backing away. They start their box step and I watch them, seeing minute things that can be changed. He stops dancing and looks at me, "Well, anything we're doing wrong?"

"There are a few things," I say stepping back up to them. "I noticed you're back leading Elizabeth," I say looking her up and down. "You have to let him lead. Do you mind?"

He lets go of Elizabeth and steps back. I step in front of him and measure up, looking up into his dark eyes. I smile and blush the slightest bit as we get into frame. I step back and he doesn't move; his arms just fall. "You need better frame. If I move your hands are glued to me and your arms need to stay rigid. Plus you need to lead me. I go where you want me to. So when you're ready start," I say smiling.

He smiles back and nods, moving me backwards. I nod and follow him for a few good steps and then he steps on my foot. "Oh my gosh I'm so sorry!" he says quickly.

"It's fine. You have to make sure your feet are in between mine. We have to be offset so you don't step on my toes and I don't step on yours," I say, sliding to my left a bit. I then slide my right foot between his and say, "There, now we're good." He smiles and is a bit pink, making me blush in return. He pushes me backward and we start waltzing in the box. He stops and says, "Thanks for the help."

"It's Rosabelle, but you can call me Rose," I say, letting go of him. Elizabeth steps right in as I leave and says, "Ulrich sweetie let's show everyone else that we're better."

Ulrich groans and starts moving around with Elizabeth. He steps on her feet and she steps on his and I shake my head. "Sissy! You're doing it wrong!" Ulrich says angrily.

"I'm never wrong! You're the one who's wrong!" Sissy says defensively.

"Actually Sissy, in this case, your lead is doing everything right. You're still back leading and you aren't offset," I supply calmly.

"Jim!" Sissy screeches. He rushes over and looks at the three of us.

"What is it Sissy?"

"She's telling me I'm wrong!" She states pointing to me.

"Sissy, she's helping teach, did you ever think that maybe she's right?"

"No! Because you said that anything that goes wrong is the guy's fault and she keeps telling me it's my fault!"

"Jim, perhaps you should watch them together," I suggest. He nods and Ulrich once again starts dancing with her and she once again messes him up.

"She's right Sissy. Why don't you dance with Herb over there and Miss Sterling you work with Mr. Stern," Jim says walking away.

"So I guess I'm your new partner," I say smiling.

He blushes a bit and nervously puts his hand on his head and I blush a bit in reply. "Well do you wanna try this?" he asks quietly.

"That's why I'm here and you have the basics down. Would you like to try something a bit more advance?" I ask just as quietly.

"Sure," He says taking my hand. I smile and walk away from the group and I start explaining some things to him and then we practice them.

"You're a fast learner Ulrich," I say smiling.

"Well I have a good teacher. A lot better than Jim," He says laughing.

"Stern, Sterling!" We hear Jim call us. We stop waltzing and break apart abruptly. "Sorry Jim," we say in unison as we avoid looking at one another.

"What are you apologizing for? That was amazing. Will you show us all what you were doing?"

Before I had the chance to say no, Ulrich had my hand and lead me to Jim. Jim puts a song on and Ulrich bows to me as I curtsy to him. He then pulls me into the frame and we set off in our box step. We then move into our grander moves and I walk him through them as we dance. We finally stop before the music does and he spins me around and pulls me to him. I blush yet again and step away from him.

"That was beautiful you two! Stern, I never would have thought you could do that. That was wonderful," Jim says applauding. Everyone else stares at us confused and in shock. "Stern, you pass and don't have to dance for the rest of the week. You and Miss Sterling are excused for the week and now."

"Thank you!" He whispers in my ear. I smile wide and we leave the gym. I walk around the campus a bit and feel someone come up behind me. They clear their throat and I turn around to see Ulrich standing there.

"Hi," I say smiling.

"Hi," He replies. "So, have you seen the grounds?"

"Yes, but I was rushed through them," I say quietly.

"Well, would you like to see them again?" He asks shyly.

"I would like that very much," I reply quietly, blushing slightly. He looks at me and blushes a bit in return. We start walking around the campus and he says, "So, you've traveled around a lot?"

"Yeah, but I pretty much stay in the same place," I say, not really lying.

"Oh cool, where is your favorite place?" he asks me.

"I love the forest places, any place that has a wonderful thick forest is my home, or near the water," I explain.

"Really? So do you like swimming?"

"Yes and no. I like swimming, I just hate the issues people have with swimwear," I reply laughing.

He smiles and laughs with me. I look at him, all dressed in green and his brown hair all messy and unkempt and smile. "So, what has you here?" I ask.

"My parents thought it would be good here. I mean, I have amazing friends, I've met someone semi-famous. I think this is an awesome place, except for the teachers. They can be brutal," He explains.

"I'm pretty good at classes," I explain.

"Well we'll see tomorrow. If you're in my classes, we have a science test tomorrow and it isn't easy," He explains.

"Well, I have my schedule right here," I say, handing my schedule that the principal gave me over to him. He takes it and the cell phone that the principal had said was given to him to give to me was vibrating. I look at the turquoise phone and see a symbol I didn't want to see so soon.

"We have all the same classes. Cool, so I'll meet you outside of the cafeteria tomorrow before breakfast so we can go around to classes?" He offers shyly.

I blush again, take my schedule from him and reply, "I would love to. But I have to go meet someone. Thank you for all the help Ulrich! You're really sweet!" I turn around and run to the factory that was now abandoned and end up back in Lyoko through a delayed virtualization.

I run to a tower and smile as it activates at my touch. _I would get to see Ulri- wait… Ulrich uses the supercomputer to get in here. Kadic is only a bit away from the supercomputer, it couldn't be!_ I stand there in thought forgetting about the whole tower thing. Suddenly something whirs by me jarring me out of my thoughts.

"Well Scarlett, not even going to fight back?" Odd taunts me.

"Ever think I just like seeing you all and that this is why I activate these towers?" I say smiling.

"Likely story," he replies, getting ready to shoot at me again. Ulrich dashes towards me and stands in front of me. "Odd stop it. She's not worth it," Ulrich says defending me. He turns around and lays a hand on my cheek. "We've decided something," he says looking into my eyes.

"Ulrich no. I know you're going to tell me you're doing everything you can to get me out of here. I'll be fine here. There's no reason for you to even try getting me out. I'm not of any use to you."

He laughs and says, "I told you before. You are very important to what we do here. You know the secrets of Lyoko. Please, let us help you."

"Ulrich-"

"Shh," he says. "Just let us help you. It's what we do."

"You're very sweet," I reply smiling.

He smiles in return and I notice that he was providing the distraction needed to get Aelita past me. I smile at him and say, "You could have just asked me to move."

He smiles and says, "Well, then I wouldn't be able to talk to you."

I smile and reply, "So you do like talking to me? How sweet! Anyway, tower's done, My job, done. See you around Warrior Boy!" I run off with my braid flying behind me and my skirt flapping on my legs. I reach another tower and use it to get to my sector. From there, I wait a good amount of time and use the information that was given to me to devirtualize myself.


	8. 8

I smile as I walk around the campus the next morning. I see Ulrich leaning against a wall looking sullen and I couldn't help but feel a blush rise in my face, my heart beat faster, and my stomach feel funny. I look away from him and walk up trying my hardest to not show my blush at all.

"Hey Rose," Ulrich says as I reach him.

"Oh hi!" I say smiling.

"You found me."

"Yeah, I did. It's kinda easy seeing as you were leaning against a wall looking… well… you like," I say quietly. He smiles and says, "Well, why don't we get some breakfast and then we'll go to class?"

"That would be nice," I reply smiling broadly.

"Come on, I'll introduce you to my friends as well," he says, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. I blush and look at the ground. His arm suddenly moves and I look at him, seeing his face pink as well. We walk into the cafeteria, grab some breakfast things, and sit at a table with a pink haired girl, and two blonde boys, one with glasses and the other with a purple spot in his hair. "Aelita, Jeremy, Odd, this is Rosabelle. Rose, this is Aelita, Jeremy, and Odd," He says motioning to each of them in turn.

"Hello!" Odd says through a mouth full of something.

"Hi," Aelita says.

"Hey," Jeremy replies.

"It's nice to meet you," I say quietly.

"Are you enjoying Kadic so far?" Jeremy asks, looking at me through his glasses.

"I've only been here for a day, but yeah. I have been. Considering I've met someone who's been nice to me and hasn't been trying to get a picture taken with me," I say smiling at Ulrich who blushes and eats his breakfast. "It's nice to seem normal. I've been places and people just want to attack me because I'm who I am."

"Sissy mentioned you're a viral singer?" Jeremy ponders.

"Yes, apparently my cover of a song went viral a while ago. I don't know how or why, but it was just something to occupy the time," reply before biting into an apple.

"Cool! So you do music videos and such?" Odd says.

"Kind of, I haven't done one yet but a producer emailed me and said he'd love to work with me. I said I'd like to finish my schooling first and live normally for a while. He said ok, contact me when you're done with schooling. If you have one I could send him your video," I reply simply.

"REALLY!" He asks astounded.

"Sure, why not?" I respond, sipping my milk.

"Ulrich I'm so glad you had the worst dancing time with Sissy and that she helped you and that you became her friend and brought her to meet us!" Odd says quickly and joyously.

Ulrich smiles, blushes, looks at me, and says, "I'm glad I did too. She's awesome isn't she?"

I smile widely and get up to throw my things away. I walk to the trash can and someone slaps the tray out of my hands. I look at the person, Elizabeth. "Mind telling me why you did that?" I ask.

"Because I wanted to," She replies, her voice nasally and rude.

"Sissy, back off. She's new and if I remember correctly you were the one who said she was the famous one," Ulrich says coming up behind me.

"I might have, but she doesn't have anyone to prove my point so why should I go easy on her? Besides, I may have just been lying about her being famous," Sissy says snidely.

"Well for your information she is famous. Have you seen how many hits she's gotten on her video? Over a million. So back off," Ulrich defends.

"What's with you Ulrich? Looking for your fifteen minutes of fame?" Sissy asks snidely.

I wince and wait for his answer. "No, I'm not. If me being her friend gives it to me, then I'll deal with it. But she's my friend none the less," He replies sternly.

"Well Ulrich, it saddens me that I can't be your friend even though you've known me longer," Sissy says placing a hand on Ulrich's face. "Maybe one day we could remedy that."

Ulrich swats her hand away and says, "Just go away Sissy."

Sissy smiles and walks off with her two cronies following. "Sorry about her. She's crazy and her father doesn't want to get her tested," Ulrich says smiling. I smile in return and kneel down to collect my trash that was littered across the floor. Ulrich kneels down and helps me and as cliché as it is, we both reach for an item. When our hands touch I retract mine a bit but he puts his other hand on mine as well and looks at me. I see his face is about as red as mine felt and we stand up. I take my hand from his and throw my trash away.

"W-w-we sh-sh-should probably g-get to class," I stammer.

"R-ri-right," He replies back. "This way." He motions for me to walk ahead of him and I do. Once outside of the cafeteria we walk side by side to the classroom. He opens the door for me and when we get in he says, "We sit kind of alphabetically. So you'll be by me." We walk to the two desks next to one another and he pulls out my chair for me. I smile as I sit down and he pushes me in slightly.

"And here I thought chivalry was dead. You are very kind Ulrich," I reply.

"Stern what are you doing here early?" The teacher asks abruptly.

"I was showing our new student to her classes, she'll be with me Mr. Fumet," Ulrich says.

"Ah yes, Miss Sterling. It's nice to have you here. I am Mr. Fumet, your Social Studies teacher. I hope you enjoy the class," He says smiling.

"Thank you. I am sure I will," I reply sweetly.

"Here is your book for this course and today's assignments. You'll be working with a partner on all of these," He states handing me the items in turn.

"I'll partner with her, for every assignment!" Ulrich says quickly.

"What do you mean every assignment Mr. Stern?"

"I mean, if there's an assignment that needs partners, I will be her partner. Just please don't pair me with Sissy! Our last project together wasn't the best," Ulrich admits.

"I remember that, and I wasn't planning on letting you and Miss Delmas work together again. You and Mr. Della Robia also shouldn't work together. Let's hope that you don't mess up with this partner as well Mr. Stern," He says walking back to his desk.

"You have had a lot of issues with school haven't you?" I whisper.

"Yeah, I have. Are you any good?"

I laugh and reply, "I made straight A's through my school career. I think I can handle this."

"Oh good!" Ulrich says as everyone files into the classroom. I see Sissy look at Ulrich and I and we just smile and wave back at her. Mr. Fumet tells us about our assignments and we get to work. I start on mine and finish it quickly. Ulrich looks at me and says, "I thought we were working on it together?"

"I finished the single part. We haven't done the partner bit," I reply.

"Oh right!" he says shyly. We have to see how each of us deals with the others answers. We wrote down our own and we prep the debate for the topic we would be given based on our questions. "I got it! We have to prove our view point and make the others join our cause."

"Exactly!" We work on our arguments and we are assigned our topic, the domesticity of women in the 1950's. _Oh, this is going to be fun! I have the perfect things for this!_

"You will present your debates tomorrow! Prepare your arguments and if you can, make your arguments convincing!" Mr. Fumet says as the bell rings. Ulrich and I walk out and we are joined by his friends.

"So, you two have the 1950's women. Oh that's going to be priceless. How are you thinking of doing that Ulrich?" Odd says laughing.

"We will have an awesome argument! Unlike you and Sissy who will just argue," Ulrich defends.

"Well I think Aelita and Jeremy are going to have the hardest time of all! They agree on everything with their topic!" Odd replies grinning.

"We will have the hardest time. Because either one of us can convince the other to come to their side easily. Well our arguments will be short then," Jeremy says.

"Quite true," Aelita replies.


	9. 9

I smile and look around the school, noticing something was off. No one else was around. We were all alone in this giant school. I look around the group and my phone vibrates. I look at it and see the sign that will become a normal addition to my life outside of Lyoko. "I have to go meet someone. I'll see you later Ulrich. Bye guys!"

I run away as they chorus their goodbyes. Apparently they hadn't noticed we were all alone and didn't feel the need to follow me to the factory. Which was a blessing because how could I say, "Oh by the way! You know me by another name. You call me Scarlett!" And that would not go over well.

I reach the factory and virtualize myself into the world of Lyoko. Upon my arrival the girl I had worked with for these years who hated following orders stands there waiting for me. "Rose," She says smiling.

"Angel," I reply.

"Where were you?"  
>"I found a way to get out of here. If you can stay with me, and meet the people I have met, we might be able to find a way to get you out," I reply smiling.<p>

"I have tried before Rose, but you know how he is! He won't let me go. I'm surprised he let you out!"

"What he doesn't know, won't hurt us," I reply slyly.

"Very true," she replies laughing.

"Now, you remember the warriors your father and I have been telling you about?"

"Yes, I remember meeting them a few times with you. What's going on?"

"Well, they have become sort of my friends, especially the Samurai warrior who is with them. He has become a guardian of mine; from his own friends and the monsters XANA creates," I reply.

"Oh really? I'm going to have to see this for my own eyes," Angel replies smiling.

"Just, don't make any sudden moves. Don't seem like a threat. I'll try my best to explain to them that you're like me. One of them, a strange cat-human I think is named Odd-"

"A fitting name if I may say from the description," she interjects laughing.

I laugh as well and continue, "Well, he still doesn't trust me."

"Well do the others?" Angel asks curiously.

"Yeah. The warrior was the first one, then the pink haired one, and then the geisha," I reply smiling.

"Wow, you're good at this stuff. If only dear old dad would have let me come with you I might have been able to befriend them as well," she states.

"Well here's your chance," I say pulling her down as Odd launches a laser arrow at us.

"Odd! Stop it! She's on our side!" I hear Aelita say.

"I still don't trust her," he replies.

I stand up with my hands over my head. Odd runs at me and I kick his hand away from me, and handspring backwards. I look at him and see his face of pure confusion. Smiling I say, "Wasn't expecting that were you?"

Odd looks at me and says, "No. I wasn't." I smile and look to my friend, "Angel, come out."

Angel walks out. Her red and black uniform kind of like mine shows that she is a minion of XANA. The red long sleeves and pants covered by a black waist corset and a black mini skirt give her the femininity that we would all want. She walks to me and I say, "This is my friend Angel. She is XANA's daughter, only she does not obey his commands."

"I am tired of being treated like a minion. I'm trying to find a way out of here and a way to stop my father from getting control of the world," Angel explains.

"She is like me. She works for XANA but not because she wants to. I just hope there is some way we could get her out of her father's control," I say.

"So she's a program?" I hear Jeremy say. I look around for the voice and reply, "Yes. She is. XANA created her after I refused to let him take me completely. The only thing is, he accidentally gave her a bit of my information, making her more human than program."

"Wow, cool!" Jeremy's disembodied voice says to us.

"Well, we found a way," Ulrich says smiling at me.

"What?" I ask incredulously.

"We found a way to get you out Scarlett!" Jeremy says to me. I look at the group and try to find words. But none could come to me.

"You aren't happy about this are you?" Aelita asks me.

"I am just shocked it all. Please use this to get Angel out," I say quickly. "And you must go and deactivate the tower."

"Right, Will you do it?" Aelita asks.

"Me? But," I splutter.

"I know you can," Ulrich says to me.

"Fine. Angel, you coming? If we're going to act defiantly against your dad, we might as well do it together. I know he tortures you when you try to escape, but we will work through it," I say smiling.

"You got it!" Angel says preparing to run with me.

"All right! Let's go!" I say running with Angel off to the tower. We kill monsters and leap over obstacles. I vault over a line of bloks and kill them with my chakram, making them blow to pieces. Angel destroys her monsters and I run into the tower. I stand upon the pad and walk to the screen, laying my hand upon it, writing appears. It reads CODE LYOKO. The tower deactivates and I look through the screen and connect with the computer. "Jeremy, tower's deactivated. See if you can get everyone minus me out."

"But we want you out as well," Jeremy replies.

"Jeremy, just do it!" I say angrily.

"Ok! OK!" Jeremy says. He starts typing and mutters, "She and Ulrich have to be the people I wouldn't want to get mad." I smile at his words and run back out of the tower. I look around and see Ulrich waiting for me.

"Princess," he says.

"I thought I told you to devirtualize him Jeremy," I say.

"Well I told him to wait until you came out with me," Ulrich replies.

I sigh and say, "I have to tell you something."

He looks at me, takes my hands and says, "You can tell me anything."

"I have the feeling you already know me outside of Lyoko. So don't be shocked."

"What?" He asks looking at me.

"My name, is Rosabelle Sterling," I say looking down at my shoes.

"You're Rose?"

"Yes. I am. I'm sorry Ulrich," I say turning away.

"Don't be sorry. You have nothing to be sorry about," He replies, turning me back around.

"But I didn't tell you all who I really am," I say. "I've betrayed you."

"No, you didn't. You were afraid that we would do something right? You had just started making friends and you didn't want to get rid of them?"

I nod and he continues, "They'll listen to me. I promise."

"Thank you Ulrich," I reply smiling widely.

"Anytime Princess," He says hugging me. Jeremy devirtualizes us and I step out of the scanner feeling like I fell on the ground.

"WOAH! Rose!" Yumi says.

"Hi," I say meekly.

"You're Scarlett?" Odd asks.

"Yes, I am."

"I can't believe you wouldn't tell us! We would have-"

"Odd that's enough!" Ulrich chimes in, stepping in front of me. Odd quickly silences and Ulrich continues, "She was worried we would treat her like this. She's helped us out far more that we give her credit for. After all, she gave us the information we needed to get Aelita out of Lyoko, information she planned to use to get herself out. She helped us get rid of towers and she never once was the true reason any of us were devirtualized. Just like Angel there."

"I know you don't really trust me and I can't undo what has happened in the past, but I'd like the opportunity to start over," I say quietly.

Yumi, Jeremy, Aelita, and Ulrich all gave me assurances that we could. I look at Odd and wait for his verdict. He looks from me to Angel and says, "Fine. We can start over." I smile as he hugs me and then walks to Angel and hugs her. Ulrich hugs me tightly and picks me up. I return the embrace and when he sets me down, I see his face is bright pink like mine felt.

"Well, we should all get to school. Angel, you can room with me," I say smiling.

"Awesome! I'm excited, but what is school?" She asks.

"It's where people go to learn. You will learn some new things there," I reply.

"It's also seven crappy hours of our lives. We sit there and listen to people talk about things we don't need to know and then we get homework, tests, quizzes, and other things," Odd says.

"Well some of it is very informative Angel," Yumi states.

"Oh, will you show me around and help me?" Angel asks Odd.

"Sure, I'd love to show you around! But first place we go is the cafeteria. Let's go!" He says taking Angel's hand and running back to the school. We all laugh and walk out of the factory.


	10. 10

After a while with the group Angel and I fit in so well! We were normal and lived with everything we had. I walk through the forest with the group and without thinking I walk away and head someplace else. "Rose!"

I look around and see home, with a little girl running to me saying, "Rosie! Rosie! Come play with me!" She then runs off with a doll motioning for me to come with her.

"Rose!" Someone calls. I shake my head and feel someone grab my shoulders. "Rose are you ok?"

"I'm fine Ulrich. It's just, this place is familiar. I think I lived here," I say looking at the old house. "I know I lived here. Dad loved this place."

"Dad? You remember your father?" he says pushing me to remember.

"I never forgot him. I don't remember anything else though, I'm lucky I remember this! So many things I forget!"

Ulrich pulls me to him and I lay my head on his chest. "It's going to be ok."

"What's going on?" Jeremy asks walking up to us. I quickly step away from Ulrich, blushing a bit and I look at our resident Einstein.

"Rose thinks she lived here," Ulrich says looking at Jeremy.

"I don't think, I know! Over there was a garden of roses!" I point to the empty trellis that held nothing but barren vines. "And over there was a swing that I would swing on whenever I could. I just don't remember anything else!"

Ulrich looks at me and Jeremy says, "Let's see what we can find."

"Why does this place look familiar?" Aelita says walking to the gate.

I look at her with the others. Simultaneously Aelita and I walk to the house, through the gate, and up the stairs. We open the door and I head into the room closest to me on the right. She heads to the left. There, upon the floor, lays a picture of two girls with dad. One of them was me, the other I couldn't remember. I look around and remember "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" resounding through the halls while the little girl from the earlier memory runs around saying, "Rosie! Rosie chase me!"

"Jeremy!" Aelita calls out. I look around and everything was once again in disarray, not pristine like I had just seen it. "Rose," Ulrich says behind me. "We should be careful. The last time we were here XANA tried killing us all. Catching Aelita in the basement and then me and Yumi."

"I know Ulrich. But… I think I can get my memories back from here! I think this is the key to remembering my family!"

"You don't have to remember them. In fact, I don't think they'll remember you," he replies in my ear.

"How could you say that?" I ask angrily.

"Because, I know they don't." I turn around and see that it wasn't Ulrich I was talking to, but a cloud of smoke that imitated his voice. I scream and run from the house as things are thrown at me, chasing me somewhere. All through the woods wolves bite at my heels and I keep running. I get to the factory and look around. The cloud grows behind me and I jump down to the factory floor, grabbing one of the chains to help my landing. I step into the elevator and it gets me to the scanner room. Another cloud forms and pushes me into a scanner and suddenly, that rush of air floods through the scanner and I look around.

Sector five, the Carthage project that Dad was working on. I run through the open hallway and reach a large room. I had only been here twice before, once with the group, and the other on my own to oversee its destruction. I find the key and trigger it. Another hallway opens up and I run through it, trying to find a way out.

A dead end. I run back through the hallway and end up back in the dome I had started out in. "Rose! Rose are you ok?" I hear Jeremy's voice.

"Yes! A little confused though! How'd I get here!" I answer.

"I'm not sure. But I'm going to try to bring you back into the Mountain sector to get the tower," Jeremy says. I suddenly feel myself transported and I look around and there I was. Ulrich runs to me , looks at me and says, "What happened?"  
>"I don't know! But less talk, more deactivating!" I say hurriedly.<p>

"I'm programming your vehicle Ulrich. Take her to the tower on the north edge of the sector," Jeremy says as something appears in front of us. Ulrich hops on the vehicle, which Jeremy named the overbike, and looks at me. "You coming Princess?"

"Princess? Really," I say smiling.

"What? Would you rather your Majesty?" He says laughing.

"I'll take Princess," I say as I get on the vehicle behind him.

"Hold on!" He says, getting ready to go. I wrap my arms around his waist and rest my head on his shoulder. We speed of in the direction of the tower and I sense monsters ahead of us.

"Ulrich! We're going to be in for a fight!" I say removing one of my arms from him and resting it on my chakram.

"She's right Ulrich! Be careful!" Jeremy says. I see the monsters and say, "Hang on, let me get them." I take my chakram from my belt and throw it at the line of monsters, killing them all. I raise my hand and the chakram comes back to me.

"I'm lucky I have you with me," Ulrich says.

"And I you. Now there's about to be more in front and behind, ready?"

"As I'll ever be!" He says.

"Wonderful!" I let go of him, swing my leg over his head, and turn so I'm on the bike backwards watching as XANA makes the monsters. As they appear, I take my chakram and destroy them. One of the monsters ahead of us aimed perfectly to hit me, missing Ulrich. From that shot I tumble from the overbike and roll on the ground.

"Rose!" Ulrich yells. Quickly getting up I throw the chakram killing all of the monsters around me. I reattach it to my belt and start doing handsprings to get to him. I land on my feet beside him, take his katana and deflect some of the shots by the krabs ahead of us. He takes my chakram and throws it, badly, hitting the target. I smile and say, "I'm definitely going to have to teach you to throw that."

"I guess you will," He replies. I hand him his katana and run to the tower, picking up my chakram as I run past it. Once inside I reach the middle of the first platform. From there, I lift into the air to a smaller one. My feet touch the smaller pad and I walk to the edge of it where a holoscreen sits. I place my hand on the pad and the words CODE LYOKO appear. The tower powers down and the ritual is complete. I make my way out of the tower and Ulrich runs to me. "We make a good team don't we Princess?"

"Yes we do Warrior Boy," I reply laughing.

"Really?" He asks.

"Would you rather Prince Charming? Knight in Shining Armor?" I ask looking at him.

"All right you two enough pet names. I'm bringing you two in," Jeremy says as he devirtualizes us. I step out of the scanners with that same feeling I had been dropped from the top floor of the Empire State Building. Ulrich looks at me and hugs me.

I blush and ask, "What is this for?"

He releases me blushing as well and says, "I'm just glad you're all right."

"Thanks," I say smiling. Jeremy comes in and looks at us. "You two all right? What happened Rose? Aelita did the same thing when she saw that house."

"I don't know Jeremy. I was looking through the house and found this picture," I say, handing over the picture I had out in my sweater pocket. "And then when Aelita called for you, I thought Ulrich had come up behind me but when I turned around it was a cloud of smoke impersonating his voice. I screamed and ran, ended up here and then in Lyoko. I don't know what happened."

"Who is in this picture?" Jeremy asks.

"Me, my father, and someone else. I'm not sure who though," I say quietly.

"Well do you mind if I keep it? I'd like to see if I can find out who these people are," Jeremy asks.

"I don't mind. Just, when you find out who they are, can you tell me?"

"Of course! Do you not remember your father's name?"

"No I don't," I reply sadly.

"It'll be all right. I promise," Ulrich says placing a hand on my shoulder. "You have Einstein working on it. He can do anything when it comes to computers."

I see Jeremy smile and turn a bit pink at the compliment. "I'm going to guess you don't get things like that often Jeremy," I say to him.

"No, thanks Ulrich," Jeremy says. I smile as Ulrich nods his head. "You know, I have heard something around school about you two," Jeremy says. I lift an eyebrow and try not to blush.

"And what is that?" Ulrich asks.

"That you two are probably the most dangerous people on the campus," Jeremy says.

"Dangerous? Me?" I ask astounded.

"Yeah, no girl picks on you like no guy does to Ulrich. I think it's the whole quiet factor and the fact that you two have shown that you don't take kindly to others who aren't in our group," Jeremy says, taking off his glasses and wiping the dirt from them. I look to Ulrich who was pink like I assumed I was. I remember the day when I got that reputation. Angel had just come here and Sissy was picking on her about something. Angel didn't know what to do so I stepped in, dumped Sissy's lunch tray and pulled Angel away from her after saying things to Sissy. The last thing I said to her was, "If I ever see you messing with my sister again, I will make sure that your lunch isn't the only thing on the floor."

It might have been harsh, but I attained many admirers that day. I look at them and smile saying, "We should probably get back."

"Right," Jeremy says. He turns around and walks to the elevator as Ulrich rests his hand on my back and moves me towards the elevator. We take the elevator to the top and walk back to the school. I smile and say, "I'll see you later ok?"

"Of course, I'll see you later," Ulrich says. I walk to the locker room and change into my gym clothes. I then get into the gym, take my music player out, and start playing a song. As the song plays I start one of my old floor routines. Dancing around the floor with handsprings, aerial summersaults, herkies, splits, and more consisted of my routine. The song finishes and I smile, pulling my torso from off my leg and sitting up looking around. I move to stand up and I see Ulrich, Yumi, and Sissy with her cronies looking at me. I feel my face turn heat up as I quickly stand, rush to get my things and walk out. Someone grabs my hand and stops me.

"What's wrong?" they ask.

"I-I-I'm not used to h-ha-having people watch me while I do that," I reply.

"It was really cool. You'll have to show me some more of that." I turn around to see Yumi holding my hand. "Here, how about this. You watch me practice with Ulrich. I'm pretty good but he's awesome. And then we can see if you can help me with the stuff you do."

I nod and she leads me back to the group. "I hope you don't mind an audience but I need her help with something after we're done," Yumi explains.

Sissy scoffs and goes to sit and watch on the bleachers. I look at Ulrich and move over to one of the mats on the ground and start my stretches. I hadn't done them earlier but needed to and my legs were going to fight with me later I know it! I watch between my stretches and see Yumi and Ulrich fighting one another. They used this on Lyoko and I had figured out how to beat them by finding the weak points. _Perhaps I should tell them how to improve those points. I'll say something if they ask._ I start doing more stretches and feel the need to crack my back due to the tension forming.


	11. 11

I stand up and bend over placing my hands behind my feet. My back cracks and I stay like that for a while until I feel someone lean on my stomach with their elbows. "OW! I'm a human not a table!" I say angrily. The person removes their elbows and I kick my feet over me so I'm in a handstand. I then follow the walks over through and stand on my feet, seeing it was Herb that had leaned on me. I look at him and he runs back to Sissy. I then crack my neck and watch as Ulrich takes Yumi down.

"You win. As always," Yumi says as she gets up.

"Ulrich you're amazing!" Sissy says like a fan girl. I smile and roll my eyes going back to stretching.

I close my eyes and do three cartwheels and two back handsprings in succession. When I open my eyes I see Ulrich looking at me. He walks over and says, "How can you do that?"

"Because I was trained to. A little flexibility goes a long way in our line of virtual work," I say.

"Well mind if I sit and watch?" he asks, putting his hands behind him.

"Nah, I don't. Just don't laugh if I fall on my face," I reply laughing.

"Cool and don't worry I won't," He responds blushing a bit. I look at Yumi who was catching her breath. I smile and wink at Ulrich and walk to Yumi.

"Hey, wanna take a few moments to breathe?" I ask her.

"Yeah, but I can breathe while we stretch. We are going to right?" She asks.

"Of course. I normally go through a routine cold and worry about possible injuries later," I say sarcastically. Yumi smiles and we start our stretching. I help her loosen up her legs by pushing the top of her foot towards her knees, extending the calf muscles. After we stretch I get her up and say, "How much do you know?"

"Only a bit. What you see on Lyoko is my knowledge and that's only there," she admits.

"Ok, then I'll get more mats," I say smiling. I walk over to the pile of mats stacked against the wall and grab two that were folded. I drag them over and place them in a square. I walk back to the pile and Ulrich helps me with a few more. I smile at him and we set them down. "Thanks Ulrich!" I say sweetly.

"No problem," He says, sitting back down.

"Ok Yumi. I want to see you do a bridge," I say.

"What?" She says. I sigh, step onto one of the mats and bend over like I did to crack my back. Once my hands hit the floor I arch my back and say, "This is a bridge. I want you to do this."

Yumi starts to bend over and falls on her back. "That's a start," I say, standing up.

"How is that a start? I fell!" she says.

"Put your hands up next to your ears, maybe a bit above them with your palms on the mat," I instruct. She does what I said and waits for the next instruction. "Bend your knees, bringing your feet close to you but keeping them about shoulder width apart." She does and says, "Now what?"

"Push your torso up, bend your back to give you the arch shape, and hang your head back," I say waiting for her. She pushes off the mat and does what she's told. "I can do it!"

"Yes you can. Now, I'm going to place a hand on your back and one on your stomach all right?"

"Sure," she replies. I place my hand where I said and say, "All right, now I want you to bring one leg up off the ground."

"What?" She asks surprised.

"Lift your foot off the mat and bring it up. I have you and I'm going to help you do a walk over," I say supportively. She sighs and does as I said first with one foot and then the other bringing her into a handstand. I remove my hands from her and leave her there for a second. "Now bring one foot down slowly then the other."

She sets her feet down and stands up. "That's cool!"

"It helps when you don't have much area, watch," I walk over to a line on the gym floor. "I'm going to stay on this line." I start doing my back-walkovers and stay on the line I indicated.

"That is handy," Yumi says.

"I found it very useful dodging your fans in Lyoko," I say laughing.

"Can you show me some other things?" Yumi asks.

"Well, what would you like to see?" I ask.

"The whole cartwheel handspring thing you did. That was impressive. I don't think I can do it until I've mastered the basics though. What were you doing before we walked in and saw you in the splits?"

"That was an old floor routine I did," I say looking down at the floor.

"Hey Ulrich? You want to see that routine we saw as she finished it? You said you'd like to," Yumi calls. I feel my face flush with color and I look to see Ulrich whose face was bright pink. "S-s-sure Yumi. I'd love to see it. If you don't mind Rose," He says smiling.

"All right. I hope you all don't mind the music I chose for it," I walk over to the speaker I had set up and start playing the last movement of Scheherazade. The music starts to play as I set up for my routine. "Floor exercises are only supposed to be ninety seconds but they tell us to prep an entire piece for the work out," I explain, hearing the part I wanted I start my routine, doing all the requirements of the routine. As the violin solo resounds through the gym, I work through the slower routine I had made for this specific section. And as the song ends I end in the splits, bent over with my forehead touching my shin.

"That was amazing!" Ulrich says quietly. I sit up and move myself into a handstand and then place my feet on the floor. Standing up I see Ulrich walking towards me. "That was really impressive. How do you do that?"

"Training, and minimal amounts of fear and nerves while actually performing. Before and afterwards though, we can shake like leaves," I say holding out my hands which were shaking profusely. Ulrich takes them and says, "There's no need for you to be nervous around us. We're your friends, except Sissy and her followers. But Yumi and I, we'll be here."

"Thanks Ulrich. It's not the people around me and watching I worry about. It's the fact that if I had done one thing wrong, I may not be able to move again," I reply somberly.

"And that will never happen. You seem like the person to always think things through," He states.

"I am. And thanks for the vote of confidence. I don't know what I'd do without it," I say quietly.

"Don't mention it."

"Well I should probably clean up a bit before we do anything else," I state as I pack up my music things and replace the mats.

"I'll come with you," Yumi says, helping me clean up. "And you can explain to me how you can do all of that."

I laugh and shake my head as we walk into the locker room. I spray a bit of body mist on me and change back into my normal clothes. "You know, Ulrich was trying to impress you in there," Yumi says quietly.

"Huh?" I say hearing it but not really believing I had heard what I thought I heard.

"Ulrich, back when he and I were practicing, he was trying to impress you," Yumi says again looking at me.

"Why on Earth would you think that?" I say blushing the smallest bit.

"Because, he kept watching you to see you were looking and did some things he doesn't do normally," Yumi explains.

"Oh," I reply in a whisper.

"Hey, I'd love to have a guy try to impress me. And I would be flattered if it was Ulrich. Why do you seem a little upset?"

"I'm not used to having someone's attention like that," I reply quietly.

"Oh, you're really shy I get it! But hey, there's no reason for you to be shy around us. Especially Ulrich for that matter. He and I really fought to get you out. Aelita started as well and when it was finally three against two, Jeremy came over to our side and Odd lost out," Yumi explains smiling.

"Thanks Yumi. It means a lot to hear that form you," I say quietly.

"Well I should be going. I think you should go and find Angel she seems to be a little edgy here. I'll see you later ok?"

"All right. See you around Yumi!" I say as we both walk out of the locker room. Not paying attention to where I was going I bump into Ulrich. We start to fall but Ulrich steadies himself and wraps his arms around me, holding me steady.

"You all right?" He asks me.

"I'm fine, thank you for helping me," I reply looking up into his eyes. I couldn't believe that I was feeling things after all these years of living in the virtual world.

"Hey, you wanna come to my soccer game tomorrow?" He asks nervously.

"Of course I would! I'll definitely be there," I say just as nervously.

"Great!" he replies a little over enthusiastically. I smile and blush the slightest bit.

"Stern, Sterling!" We hear Jim call us. We step away from one another and look to him.

"Yes Jim?" We say together.

"You two practicing or something?" Jim asks as he walks towards us.

"No, we were just talking. Rose got a bit dizzy and I helped her steady herself," Ulrich lies.

"All right then Stern. Be careful Sterling. We wouldn't want you or your sister getting hurt," Jim says as he walks away.

"That was odd," I say quietly.

"Yeah, but anyway, we should probably get going," He replies, placing his hand on the back of his head. I could tell that's what he did when he's nervous. Just like I would twist my hair or mess with any jewelry I had on. We turn and walk out of the building and out onto the grounds of the school. There I see Angel and Odd talking about something and looking quite happy together. I walk back to my room and put my things away from the gym. I then walk to the bathroom to take a shower and I smile thinking about what Ulrich had asked. _He wanted me specifically to come to the game. I wonder if the others will be there?_

I step into the shower and clean the dirt and grime from my body. After that, I finish my day and sleep waiting until morning comes and I could show my support for Ulrich.

~Author's Note~ Thank you to May Ewing who has reviewed this story so much! Thank you all for reading!

~SPOILER ALERT!~ (Since I can't message her myself) Now... In answer to her(May Ewing) query about Angel... She's not going to be in much. She was a character I had written in on request from a friend of mine from the original site this is on.


	12. 12

I wake up and get ready for the game today. I walk to the cafeteria and see Ulrich sitting outside looking anxious. I walk up to him and ask, "What's wrong?"

"My dad is going to be here," he replies.

"Well that's a good thing. He'll be able to see you play! You're going to do well I know it," I state supportively.

"I hope so. I just want to make them proud you know?"

"I know. I think I would try to impress my father when he was around," I say smiling.

"You would?"

"I think so. But, we should try to get some breakfast into you. We wouldn't want you passing out on the field," I say sweetly.

"All right," He says as I help him up. We walk into the cafeteria and I get some things for breakfast while Ulrich grabs barely anything. We walk back to the table and I see he has little. "Ulrich, you really going to eat an apple only?"

"Yeah, I can't have anything else. The nerves you know," he says quietly.

"I know, but you should still eat something more than an apple," I say handing him my banana.

He takes it smiling. "It's full of potassium, so you don't cramp up while you run," I explain.

"Thanks Rose," He says. I smile and eat my breakfast. When we finish we walk to the trashcan and throw our garbage in the can. We then walk out to the soccer field and Ulrich sits with me for a while and then goes and gets ready. I smile and wait for everyone to arrive.

After waiting for a while the game starts and I see Ulrich running out onto the field. I watch as he plays the game, taking the ball, scoring goals, stealing it from the other team, and working with his team to win the game. I smile as I see him go to score a goal but someone tries to kick the ball and kicks his thigh instead. Ulrich falls down and I stand from my seat, eyes wide and a hand over my mouth. I couldn't breathe until he got up and ran after the guy who had kicked him. I smile and watch him take the ball again and then score the last goal of the first half. Everyone stands and cheers as the buzzer sounds. As I watch Ulrich walk back with the team and someone in the team jersey walks to me. "Are you Rose?" the player asks.

"Yes I am," I say confused.

"Ulrich is asking for you," the boy says. Confused I get up, take the boys hand and walk to Ulrich.

"Hey Rose, how are you liking the game?" Ulrich asks looking up at me.

"I'm very much enjoying it. Except for when you got hurt. Are you ok?" I ask, kneeling beside him on the ground.

"I'm fine, here, sit down," He says starting to stand. I put my hand on his shoulder keeping him on the bench. "Ulrich, you need to sit. You are working so hard out there and you need to rest. Besides, I like the grass," I reply smiling.

"Oh. Ok. So, you think we're doing well?" He asks looking at me.

"Yes, I do. You're doing wonderfully. But, I should get back. Your coach will want to talk to you and I don't want to be a distraction," I say as I stand up. Ulrich quickly takes my hand and helps me stand. I smile and he asks nervously, "Do you think you can sit in the front row here?"

"Sure, I guess I could," I reply finding an empty seat and sitting in it. He smiles at me and then pays attention to the coach telling them things about the game. I sit on the bleachers and watch the team huddled together and working out a plan for the next half. After a few minutes the whistle sounds and the game is back on again. This time, Ulrich is left on the bench and I look confused at the field. Ulrich turns around and sees my confusion. "Rose, you ok?"

"I'm just confused. Why aren't you playing?" I ask him.

"Because my coach wants me to rest for a while and I'll go in if someone needs out or if we start losing," He replies slightly pink in the face. I smile and blush a bit and watch the game. We score a goal and I yell with the crowd in joy and pride. I see someone fall and the whistle is blown. The coach turns to Ulrich and he gets up. He looks at me, nods, and then runs to the coach. He talks to the coach and then runs out onto the field in place of the guy who fell. Another whistle blows and the game starts up again.

I look at the clock and there's only a minute left on the clock and we're tied up in the scores. I look at Ulrich and watch him as he takes the ball from our side of the field and runs with it down to the other goal. _30 seconds_. Someone takes it from him and he runs back towards our side. Ulrich steals the ball back and runs back down, passing it to his teammates who pass it back to him. _5-4-3-2_… Ulrich kicks the ball and as the buzzer sounds the ball contacts the net of the goal. I jump up from my seat and yell with the crowd. "Go Ulrich!" I yell, laughing and smiling.

The team crowds together and congratulates Ulrich. They celebrate and Ulrich finally gets out of the crowd and runs to me. I smile, run to him and he hugs me. "We did it!" He says out of breath a bit.

"You did! That was amazing! I'm so glad I came!" I reply grinning from ear to ear.

"Ulrich," a male voice says behind me.

"Dad," Ulrich says calmly. He was joyful only seconds ago, and now, he sounded serious and sad.

"Good game son. You've made me proud," his father says flatly. I turn around and look at Mr. Stern. He was tall, serious, and a bit scary.

"Thanks Dad. I'd like you to meet my friend," Ulrich says, laying a hand on my shoulder.

"This is your friend? I thought you only had one girl friend? The Japanese one who is older than you," his Dad replies.

"This is Rosabelle Sterling. She's new this semester and she's my good friend," Ulrich states calmly.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Stern. Your son is quite talented and I am happy to call him my friend," I say, extending my hand to him. He looks at me, shakes my hand and says, "You are friends with my son?"

"Yes, I am. He became my friend and helped me adjust to everything here," I reply smiling.

"You are the singer that everyone has been talking about," he states looking at my reaction.

"I am, but I am trying to be normal and live like a teenager for a while before I start anything professional," I say modestly.

He smiles at me and looks to Ulrich, "She might be a good influence on you Ulrich. Listen to her."

"I will Dad," Ulrich says nervously.

"Good, I've got to be going. Business meeting and all. It was nice to meet you Miss Sterling. Ulrich," He says nodding to each of us in turn. I smile and wave saying, "It was nice to meet you too!"

He walks away and Ulrich picks me up in the air. I smile and laugh at the experience but, become puzzled by it when he sets me down. "What was that for?" I ask.

"My parents pretty much hate my friends and view me as a failure for being friends with them. My Dad likes you! It's a giant accomplishment!" Ulrich explains.

I blush a bit and look at my feet. "Oh, OK. I'm glad you're happy."

He takes my hand and says, "Thank you."

I look at him and see the face of my savior.


	13. 13

Crazy as it sounds, if he hadn't believed in me and helped me conquer XANA's hold on me, given me a reason to fight, I would still be in Lyoko and XANA's puppet. "So, what should we do to celebrate?" I ask him.

"Well, we have the rest of the day off, and we can go off campus as long as we're reachable. Want to go out to lunch?" Ulrich asks.

"I would love to. How about we have a picnic instead? Go and get something we like and bring it to the park or somewhere," I offer.

"That sounds wonderful. Let me go and get ready. I'll meet you near the cafeteria ok?"

"Ok. That sounds good. I'll see you then," I say. He smiles at me and I walk away.

"How'd you like the game?" Angel asks coming up to me.

"I loved it! It was amazing! Did you see Ulrich play? Oh it was wonderful!" I reply gushing.

"You are very excited," Angel observes.

"I am," I reply blushing slightly.

"What's with the color?" she asks me confused.

"I-it's nothing. I'm gonna go get ready," I stammer slightly.

"Ready? Ready for what?" Angel asks following after me.

"Ulrich and I are having lunch together," I reply quietly.

"You both do that every day at lunch," she states.

"I mean we're going to lunch, alone. Without anyone else," I almost whisper.

She gasps and smiles, "You are?"

I nod and we walk into my room. I go to my closet and pick out something nice to wear. I find a simple blue, halter dress. I step out of my clothes and into the dress. Angel picks out shoes and accessories to go with it and I smile at her. "Thanks sis," I say quietly.

"Don't mention it," She replies smiling just as widely. I put on the shoes, and adorn myself with the purple earrings and fabric rose hair clip she pulled out for me.

"Well, how do I look?" I ask, twirling around.

"You look beautiful as always Rose," She says happily.

"Now that's not true. I don't always look beautiful," I reply quietly.

"You do! You just have that presence about you. It's something I've admired," she states.

"Now Angel, don't you talk like that! You are just as beautiful as me and you are amazing!"

"But I don't have someone who likes me like you do," she replies quietly.

I blush brightly and ask, "W-who l-likes m-m-me?"

"You don't know? Well… I won't spoil the surprise. I'll let you get to your lunch," she replies coyly.

"Ah! Not cool Angel!" I say annoyed.

"I don't care! I'm not going to ruin a surprise if there is one!"

"Angel! Why tell me something like that and then not finish it!"

"Because I shouldn't have said anything anyway! You have a lunch to get to! Go on!"

I sigh as she walks away and I walk to the cafeteria. I wait near the cafeteria and feel someone's eyes on me. I look around and see someone I hadn't met before but had seen around the campus looking at me. "Rose?" I hear Ulrich ask behind me.

I turn around and see him standing there, looking at me. "Too much?" I ask brushing off imaginary lint from the skirt of my dress.

"No. I-I like it," He says smiling.

"Thanks, shall we go?" I ask, blushing a bit.

"Sure," He replies walking to me. I smile and we walk together out of the grounds and into the city.


	14. 14

We found a nice Chinese restaurant and decide to get our lunch there. We order our lunch and bring it to the park on the campus where no one usually comes unless it's a weekend. We sit at a table and start on our picnic.

"So, how did you get started in soccer?" I ask him trying to start a conversation.

"Well, my parents wanted me to do something useful and sports like. So I found martial arts, they didn't care for that and they signed me up for soccer instead. So now I do both, one to make me happy and help out in Lyoko, and the other to make them happy, hopefully," He explains sadly.

"Well, if it means anything, I'm proud of you. You're a wonderful player. I'd never be able to do that," I reply quietly.

"Really?" Ulrich asks smiling.

"Y-yeah. I'm very impressed with how you played," I say looking at him.

"Well, are you going to do any more gymnastics?" He asks, trying to learn about me.

"I don't know. I might, but it's been years since I've competed. I don't think I'm any good," I reply, going back to eating my lunch.

"I thought you were awesome. That routine you did at the end, that was just spectacular," He says enthusiastically. I blush and look at the table. He stays quiet for a minute and says, "You aren't used to someone complimenting you, are you?"

I shake my head and say, "Fourteen years I lived in Lyoko. The fourteen years prior to that, I think I was pushed and pushed to exceed and rarely complimented. I don't really remember."

"Well, I won't push you to do anything you don't want to do," He says quietly.

"Thank you Ulrich. That means a lot to me," I reply smiling.

"You're welcome Rose," he says smiling as well.

We sit there and finish our lunch in quiet and once we finish, we clean up our mess and look around the park. "So what should we do now?"

"I don't know. Maybe head back?"

"I was thinking of going on the swings. I haven't been to a park in so long, if you don't mind," I say quietly.

"I'll enjoy that come on," he says smiling. We walk to the swings and I get on one of them and he on the other. We start swinging and I close my eyes seeing something distant, "Higher daddy higher! I want to touch the sky!"

"Belle, you know you can't touch the sky," he says.

"But I can always want to try!" I reply laughing.

"That's true, always dream and you will go far," he states laughing.

I open my eyes and notice that Ulrich wasn't swinging next to me anymore. And all of the sudden someone pushes me on the swing. I squeak a bit from the shock and I hear a laugh behind me. "Wasn't expecting that were you?" Ulrich says chuckling.

"No I wasn't. I was in the process of remembering something," I reply smiling.

He pushes me again saying, "What do you remember?"

"I remembered being on swings, with my dad pushing me. It was mostly his voice, I couldn't see his face. I told him to push me higher so I could touch the sky," I explain distantly, trying to hold onto that memory.

"That sounds nice," Ulrich says pushing me again.

"You know you don't have to push me right?" I say smiling.

"I know… but it just seemed fun," He says, getting in front of me to stop me from swinging. He grabs the chains of the swing and I stop moving. For a moment we stayed in that place, not knowing quite what to do, but knowing that a blush was creeping up both of our faces from the closeness of the other person. I look into his eyes and him into my hazel ones. I could see that there was something going on inside of him. And as we were about to do something, our phones start ringing.


	15. 15

He backs away from me, I get up from the swing, and we run to get our phones from the table. We both answer them saying, "What's going on?"

"Rose! Something is going on at school! I can't get a hold of Angel or Odd!" Yumi says into the phone.

"All right then. I'll be there as soon as possible," I reply hanging up the phone. I look at Ulrich and we run to the factory. We get to the edge and each grab chains to swing down to the floor on. Ulrich goes first with me quickly following behind him. He lands on the floor and waits for me to appear beside him. Thanks to gymnastics… I ruled at this. I end on my feet and we run to the elevator taking it down to the computer room. The doors open and we see Jeremy sitting at the computer. "Head on down you two. Yumi and Aelita are there," He says. We stay in the elevator and head down to the scanners. Once the doors open we each step into a scanner and the feeling of falling through the floor overwhelms me.

I look around and see myself in the desert sector hovering above the ground. I then fall down and land on my feet. I smile at Ulrich who watches me. "Nice timing you two!" Aelita says smiling.

"We have to hurry. XANA's got Angel and Odd," I say.

"How do you know?" Yumi says.

"Because… XANA will do anything to get his daughter back. If that means torturing her on earth, then it means he'll do whatever. He also knows I care for her and knows I'll do anything for her. But look… we need to stop chatting. We need to save Odd and Angel," I explain quickly.

"Right, let's go!" Yumi says.

"The tower is on the south east side of the sector. I'm bringing up vehicles for you!" Jeremy says. In front of us appear two vehicles, the overbike and Yumi's overwing. Ulrich grabs my hand and we head towards the bike while Aelita and Yumi jump on the overwing. I sit behind Ulrich with my legs on one side making it easier for me to do anything I need to and wrap my arms around him. Ulrich smiles and starts driving towards the tower. Yumi and Aelita move ahead of us and head towards the tower. I watch them pull ahead and feel the monsters XANA creates to stop them. "Guys! Look out!" I yell. They don't hear me and move straight into an ambush. Ulrich and I watch as Aelita gets devirtualized on the spot by a Megatank.

"Rose, this isn't going well!" Ulrich says as we arrive at the ambush. I take my chakram and throw it at the Megatank, knowing it would open upon "seeing" me. As soon as it opens my chakram comes from behind it and through the Eye back to me. Yumi Looks at us and yells, "Get her to the tower Ulrich!"

"Already on it Yumi!" Ulrich replies, revving the bikes engine and then speeding away. I turn slightly to make sure no monsters were following us. As soon as I look, Yumi kills a group of Hornets that had been chasing us, only to be devirtualized herself. I hold onto Ulrich tighter and he speeds up to get there faster.

"All right Rose, here we are," Ulrich says as we stop moving. I smile, jump off the bike and run towards the tower only to be stopped by a scyffozoa. Before I can yell the squid like monster ensnares me in its tentacles, lifts me up, and starts taking information from me and transferring something into me. In a trance like state I wasn't aware of anything around me especially when I was finally released by Ulrich, slicing the tentacles from around me. I fall to the ground in heap and shake my head to clear it of the funny feeling.


	16. 16

"Rose!" Ulrich yells. I stand up and sway a bit only to be steadied by him. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Let's get to the tower," I say.

He smiles and nods helping me to the tower. I let go of him and move into the tower, performing the standard procedure for deactivating the tower. Once done I walk back out to Ulrich and Jeremy devirtualizes us. Yumi, Ulrich, and I step out of the scanners and look at one another.

"Thanks for the cover Yumi," I say to her smiling.

"Anytime Rose. I can't let you and Aelita be devirtualized. But it seems you have your own guard," She replies, looking at Ulrich who looks at me and smiles.

"Hey, you said it. We can't let them both be devirtualized. That would be very bad! So we protect them," he covers quickly.

I smile and giggle a bit before saying, "Well, I'm going to check on Odd and Angel. Anyone else curious about them and want to go with me?"

"I'm coming. Can't leave my best friend alone after something like this happened," Ulrich says, walking out with his hands in his pockets. I follow after him and resist the urge to loop my arm through his and walk with him back to school. So instead I just walk beside him with my hands behind my back. We walk back in silence and see Angel and Odd, blushing quite profusely.

"Hey you two," Ulrich says smiling. They jump from the sound and look at us, blushing even more.

"H-hey Ulrich. Hey Rose," Angel says.

"So… whatcha doin'?" I ask smiling.

"Ummm, nothing much. Odd and I were just," Angel tries to explain but drops off.

I look at Ulrich and he looks back at me. We then smile and say simultaneously, "You two are dating after this little experience aren't you?"

Angel and Odd blush and look at their feet which gave us our answer. I smile and look at Angel saying, "Congrats you two. You will be happy."

"Thanks Rose," Odd replies quietly.

I smile as they hug one another and I turn to walk away. "I'll see you all around," I say over my shoulder walking away. Suddenly I feel a hand on my shoulder and see Ulrich there. "We, we didn't really finish our," Ulrich says quietly.

"Well, what shall we do to make the day complete?" I ask smiling.

"Ummm, I'm not sure," Ulrich says, putting his hand behind his head nervously.

"Neither am I, well then maybe we could head back to the park, or go for a walk," I supply.

" I'm not-"

"Oh Ulrich dear!" I hear ring across the square. That voice was one I loathed, and it belonged to the one human I wished I could kill.

Ulrich looks at me pale. "Help?"

"What am I supposed to do?" I ask quickly.

"Anything!" Ulrich says. Sissy walks to us and looks at Ulrich smiling. "Ulrich dear I was wondering, if you aren't busy tonight, you might want to come to a movie with me. There's a really good one playing."

"Ulrich, I thought you were going to teach me that marshal art you were doing," I supply looking at him.

"Yeah, I promised Rose I'd teach her. Sorry Sissy, I'll be busy practicing with her for a while," Ulrich follows the story.

"Could I learn too?" Sissy asks trying to worm in.

"Well, I'd really like to make sure Rose gets everything. You already know Pencak-silat. She doesn't," he replies.

"Oh, well… fine. Maybe some other time," she says walking away.

"Something's up. She didn't insult me. She wasn't angry, something's wrong with her," I say watching her walk away.

"Yeah, something's up. But, for now let's expect the worst for when you're alone," he says smiling.

I smile at him and nod. "All right. I can do that," I reply sweetly.

"So, think you might be able to teach me how to throw that weapon of yours in Lyoko?"

"I think I could, but we need a Frisbee," I say laughing.

He laughs with me and says, "I think Jim should have one."  
>"Think we could get it?"<p>

"I bet we could. Come on," he says, taking my hand and walking with me to the gym.


	17. 17

He finds a Frisbee and we walk back outside. "So, what is the secret?"

"Well, have you watched me?"

Ulrich nods and says, "Of course I have."

"Well that was a silly question then. All right. I want you to take the Frisbee and hold it like this," I explain, positioning his hand. He follows my instructions and I continue to teach him how to throw the chakram. I smile at his attempts and he gets slightly flustered.

"I can't do this. I'm better with the katana," He says shortly.

"You think I mastered it in one day? It took me a while and I had fourteen years to perfect it! You aren't going to get it in one day trust me," I reply smiling. It was then that I noticed how close we were. A blush creeps up my face like there was on his and we quickly stepped away from one another. I grab my curly brown ponytail and mess with it nervously.

"I-I'm sorry," Ulrich stammers slightly.

"S-So am I," I reply looking at my shoes.

"Well, thanks for the lesson. Maybe we can work with the one in Lyoko?"

"Sounds good. I'll see you at dinner. I've got a project to do," I say backing up.

"Y-yeah, same here," He replies blushing brighter.

"See you later," I say. I back up into something and end up stumbling and falling backwards. My face turns an even brighter shade of red as I realize I just tripped and fell in front of Ulrich. I quickly stand up and run back to my room, locking the door and sliding down it. I haven't been embarrassed in years! And now, my embarrassment has reached an all time high! How could I have let that happen?

I stay in my room for the rest of the day knowing I couldn't face Ulrich after my blunder. I hear someone at my door and answer it seeing Angel standing there. "Can I come in?"

"Sure," I say stepping aside so she could enter. She steps in and looks at me saying, "We all missed you at dinner. Ulrich was wondering where you were."

"O-Oh," I say blushing again.

"So, you and Ulrich?" She says smirking, sitting on my bed.

"There's nothing between us. We're just friends Angel," I reply looking out the window.

"Somehow… I think you're wrong. You and him make an adorable couple if you'll ever look past each other's masks," she replies slyly.

I glare at her and she just smiles at me. "Angel, I need to look after you. I have no time for relationships. Let alone with someone who XANA knows."

"But Odd and I are together! He'll look after me!" Angel protests.

"No! It'll help but still no! I'm going to do my best to keep you out of Lyoko so no one finds out you two are together! He wants you back Angel!"

"And I can take care of myself!"

"Like you could today? Angel! You were my charge in Lyoko, and I'll keep doing it until XANA is gone!"

"I'm not a child Rose," Angel says crossing her arms.

"I know! But… I've come to feel like a sister to you and I don't want to lose you to XANA," I say sitting on the floor and putting my face in my hands. I had already lost one of my charges, I can't lose another. I can't lose another sister, I know I have one but I don't remember what she looks like or what her name is. Really nothing about my life before Lyoko do I remember and I wish I could! But each time I've tried, I don't even know where to look!

"Rose? Are you all right?" Angel questions.

"No! I want to remember my life and I can't! I don't remember it Angel. I want to remember my sister, my dad, my mom… my life! I remember doing gymnastics and competitions but I don't remember if I was good enough. I remember some things but they're just random! Angel, I want to know who I am!" I explain through tears.

"Rose, you don't need a memory to know who you are. You're you no matter what you remember. You're sweet, motherly, protective, loyal, and fun. You study hard and help others in need. I mean, you chewed out Sissy loads of times over me and the little girls Milly and Tamia. I mean, you're the person you are and it's hard to change that. And, I don't want you to change. You're the only person, besides Odd who has cared what happens to me and I don't want that to go away," she explains to me.

"Angel, thanks for trying but, I just need some time alone to try and remember things," I reply standing up.

"I understand. Just don't try to push it all right?"

"I won't." I walk out of the room and start to walk around the campus. I sigh as I think about my embarrassing move and try to piece together my past. I stop in the middle of the walkway and from nowhere feel arms wrap around me. I quickly put into place some of the moves I had seen Ulrich and Yumi do when I watched them practice. I turn around, see that the person holding me was Ulrich, and gasp blushing bright red. "Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry!"

"It's all right, I should have said something," He says blushing brightly as well.

"But I still shouldn't have attacked you!"

"You had every right. And wow you're good," Ulrich says smiling.

"I watched you and Yumi," I reply quietly.

"Ah, Yumi's awesome isn't she?" he asks kinda nervous.

"She's cool, y-you like her, don't you?" I ask looking at the ground.

"Yeah, I do," He says flatly.

"She should know that. Well, I'm going to continue my walk. See you in class," I say trying to hide my sadness. I turn around and walk away, taking a long way back to my room. Once there I lay on my bed and cry myself to sleep.


	18. 18

I wake up the next morning, get dressed in a nice skirt and blouse, and head to the cafeteria. As I walk I sketch things in my sketch book. I absent mindedly grab breakfast, look at my sketch thinking of how I could make it better, and walk to my usual place for meals. As I sit down I start eating and continue looking at my sketch. A hand comes into my view and waves at me. I jump a bit and look where the hand came from. "Oh, hi Odd," I say smiling.

"Hey. You seem very fixed on that drawing," he says using the end of his spoon to point to the sketch.

"Well, it's something I've been seeing in my dreams," I look at the thing I sketched and frown. "But it isn't right. Something is off about it."

"It's still really good. Do you do drawings for other people?"

"I would. But no one else knows that I can. And I'm not that good Odd."

"You're pretty good. I can't really draw so I admire anyone's work that's better than mine. It's cool," he says eating his breakfast.

"Thanks Odd, but for now, just keep this between you and me please?" I ask him, taking a bite of my apple.

"Sure. But can you draw something for me?" I nod my mouth still full of apple and wait for his request. "Can you draw something for me to give to Angel? Like maybe something of us?"

"All right. But you can't tell anyone," I say.

"Tell anyone what?" I hear Ulrich say from beside me. I turn over the sketchbook to the blank page on the back and look at him. "N-Nothing," I say blushing a bit.

Ulrich looks at me and smiles, "Come on Rose. What's the book?"

"Nothing! I promise!" I say smiling.

"Uh-huh. Sure," He reaches around me and grabs the book quickly. "HEY!" I say trying to get the book back. He looks at the sketch I was working on and smiles. "You draw?"

"Yes… I sketch. And they aren't any good," I reply still trying to get the book from him.

"Rose I like them, they're good," he says thumbing through the pictures, keeping the book from me.

"Ulrich! Give me my book back!"

"Rose, let me see into your mind, please?"

I look into his eyes and know I can't win. I start to pout and say, "Fine. Just don't yell at me if you find one of my bad drawings."

"Bad?"

"Like terrible, should be burned bad," I say as I stand up from the table to get rid of the trash from my breakfast. I walk into the school after throwing my garbage away and sit at my desk in homeroom. Thinking of ways to get my memory back is proving a harder task than I thought. Damn XANA and his need to have world dominance! Why'd he have to take my memory? Why can't I remember my family? I only know I have one and that I have a sister because XANA told me. I remember my father, but that's just that.

"Rose," I hear beside me. I look up and there sits Ulrich looking at me confused. I shrug and look at the desk hoping to not draw attention to myself and giving him the silent treatment for stealing my book.

I feel a slight blush creep up my own face and look down at the desk. I see the sketchbook slide into my frame of view. But before I can I take it and put it in my bag, Ulrich puts it away as the teacher begins their lesson. Taking notes and paying attention would be difficult today. The only thing I want to do is work on ways to regain my lost memory! I want to remember who I was, and if I was anything like I am today.

We all get through the day of lecture courses unscathed and awake only to be brought to gym class. I get changed for gym and sit in the gymnasium waiting to begin the class. I hear two people sit beside me and look at each of them. On my left Angel, on my right, as per usual, Ulrich. Why he continues to do so I'll never understand.

"All right class, today I want to see how you all do with something; heights," Jim starts to instruct. I listen to his jargon and hear the words 'rock' and 'wall' right next to one another. _Great! I'm climbing a rock wall. Should be like the mountains and the desert._ "I'm going to make this interesting, Boys against girls," Jim says loudly. "Boys will be racing a girl up the wall and whoever has the most reach the top first wins the battle."

The boys smile as the girls groan. I smile at the thought thinking I have good practice from Lyoko. Jim pairs up boys and girls and, as per usual, I got paired with Ulrich. It gets a little predictable but hey, we're really good friends and great partners. Angel and Odd were paired together and Aelita and Jeremy were paired up. Ulrich and I waited for our turn watching the races up the wall. Aelita and Jeremy tied their race meaning they'd have to go again. After a few more pairs Angel and Odd had their turn. I smile as Angel looks at me and grins.

Ulrich sees the grin and looks at me asking, "She has an idea to fight dirty doesn't she?"

"Yes, she does," I reply smiling at him. He shakes his head and watches as Odd and Angel start their climb. As they reach the top Odd's leading slightly and Angel says, "Come on scrawny. Beat me!"

"I AM NOT SCRAWNY! I'M SVELT!" Odd freezes and starts ranting while Angel laughs and reaches the top.

"I win," She says smirking at him from the top.

"I see what you did. Nicely played Angel," Odd says as they climb back down.

"Stern! Sterling! You're up!" Jim calls to us. I look at Ulrich who looks pretty nerve wracked for doing this. Aelita, Odd, and Jeremy watch Ulrich worried as we walk to the rock wall. I stand at the base of the wall and look at Ulrich. "You all right?" I ask him.

"Y-yeah. I'm fine," he replies looking at the wall. Ulrich and I start up the wall, each of us watching the other as we climb. As we continue up I notice him freeze on the wall. I stop and look at him, "Ulrich! What's wrong?"

"I-I'm fine. Finish this climb, you win," he says shakily.

"I don't think so. You're climbing with me," I say, climbing back down to him.

"Rose, what are you doing?"

"Helping my friend. Something is wrong, and I'm going to help," I say simply.

"I-I'm fine," He says closing his eyes.

"No you aren't," I state.

"Stern, Sterling, what's going on?" Jim calls to us.

"We're just hanging around," I say trying to diffuse tension. Ulrich chuckles slightly and starts to lose his grip. I clasp his hand to stop him from tumbling down to the mat below. "Ulrich, Come on. We'll take this slow and steady. I'm not leaving you," I say to him.

"I don't want you to do this."

"To bad, because I'm going to," I reply smiling.

"I hoped it wouldn't come today," he says blushing.

"What do you mean?"

"I-I wanted-"

"Stern! Are you all right?" Jim asks.

"I-I'm fine!" Ulrich replies shakily. "W-will you finish this?"

I nod and quickly climb up the rock wall to the top and then climb back down to him. "I'm right here. Let's climb down together. And you can explain after this all right?" I say smiling and blushing.

"That sounds great," He says with his eyes closed. I place my hand on his and say, "Then let's get off this wall."

He nods and I help him down the wall slowly and carefully. He collapses to his knees as we reach the mat on the bottom. I kneel next to him and he rests his head on my shoulder. "I-I'm so-sorry Rose," he says blushing and moving his head from my shoulder. I blush and say, "I-It's all right. I don't mind. But we should get you to the nurse."

"It won't help," he says quietly.

"Well let's get this off the mat all right? And you can stay with me for as long as you need," I reply whispering. He nods as I help him stand, and we walk off the mat and sit on the gym floor near a wall. Ulrich leans against me and I watch him confused.

"I need to tell you," Ulrich says.

"You can tell me anything. You don't like heights?"

He smiles and looks at me, "No. Not that, I have vertigo. That's what happened there. I-I'm sorry if I-"

"You're sorry? For what? For a medical thing? Why are you apologizing to me?"

"I-I w-wanted to im-"

"Ulrich! You all right?" Odd asks coming towards us.

"Yeah I'm fine Odd," He says clenching his jaws. I could tell he was going to say something important to him and that Odd had come in at the wrong time. Ulrich rarely ever opens up from what I could tell, I might be the one who knows him pretty well seeing as he told me about his parents. And he knows me the best besides Angel. It would be hard to get him to open up now.

"You sure?" Angel asks, coming up beside him.

"Yes. I'm fine," He replies calmly. He sits up from my side and stands up. I stand up beside him and walk to the locker room. I change back into my normal clothes and walk out with my bag. My phone buzzes and I look at the screen seeing a text from Jeremy that there was an attack on Lyoko. I start running through the forest to head towards the factory, but I run into someone and fall to the ground.

"I'm so sorry!" I say standing up and looking at the boy I had run into. He's tall and well built. His black hair longish and shaggy, but I liked Ulrich's better. He looks at me and I couldn't help but blush a bit. "You're all right. Are you ok?" He asks looking me over.

"I-I'm fine," I say smiling.

"My name's William Dunbar. I'm new here," he says extending his hand.

I take his hand and as I shake it I introduce myself, "Rosabelle Sterling."

"You're the viral singer that's off the grid," He observes. "I've met someone famous."

"I'm not famous for anything," I reply.

"You're famous. Why aren't you singing?"

"That video wasn't supposed to be leaked. It was something I was messing with in my loads of spare time. I'm not sure how it even got out," I explain quietly.

"Oh, well I hope you get known for something you enjoy doing. And I hope you continue singing, your voice is really good," He says sweetly, taking my hand. I smile and blush slightly looking around. He kisses my hand and I smile wider. "I'll see you around," He says as he walks away.

"Ok," I reply watching him walk away. I shake my head quickly and feel someone wrapping their arms around my waist. I blush slightly hearing the person behind me say, "Hi Rosabelle."

"H-Hi Ulrich," I stammer. He turns me around and I see that he's possessed by XANA and I start to shriek, but no sound can come from my mouth. He smirks at me and chokes me, knocking me out.


	19. 19

I open my eyes and look up, seeing white. _White? There's no snow out today, why is there white?_ I sit up and see myself in the coral outfit I had originally had on Lyoko before XANA turned it red and black. I smile at it and then it hits me. _I'm on Lyoko. Ulrich's possessed, and I'm on Lyoko. Oh shiny tomato!_

"You're awake," I hear behind me. I turn around and see Ulrich standing there, but the voice wasn't his. It was deeper, and sounded like a program. XANA had him good here. I stand up and look at the XANAfied Ulrich in front of me. "You're ruining my plan XANA," I say brushing off the coral skirt.

"What plan? You have no plan. You just wanted out and you took Angel with you," he says coldly.

"I was planning on bringing you Aelita from the outside world, but I guess that won't happen now!" I say harshly.

"I don't need your services for that. But I do need you for something else though," he says advancing towards me. As he advances, I retreat just as quickly. I turn around and start running away making sure I didn't find any monsters around. I vault over crevasses, slide down tunnels, and continue running through the Ice Sector away from XANA. Suddenly I get grabbed from behind and fall forwards. I slide to a stop and look at him trying to stand. XANA takes the katana from his back and starts moving towards me with it. I quickly get up, take my chakram off my belt, and get ready to defend myself.

"Now Rosabelle, is that really how you should treat your master?" He asks me, twirling the katana in his hand.

"You aren't my master and never will be!" I reply throwing my chakram at him.

He gets hit by it and runs at me with the katana. I handspring backwards to avoid him, catching my chakram on its return. He follows me as I run and I can't help but feel like I'm running into a trap. I veer off in a different direction and then back track to where I woke up. Upon my arrival I kneel down and try to feel for any activated towers. None in the area, so how is XANA doing this? From behind me I hear the ring of a katana being unsheathed. I whirl around and kick XANA in the chest and run towards the nearest tower.

I run inside of it and end up in the forest sector. Looking around I hear monsters and indistinct yelling. Smiling, I run to the yelling and see Yumi, Odd, and Aelita fighting XANA's monsters. I take my chakram and throw it killing the monsters stopping Aelita from getting to the tower. "ROSE!" Odd yells happily.

I continue running and then feel a pain in my back and scream from the intensity of it. Looking down seeing a silver blade stuck through me like a toothpick. _Remember self, this isn't Ulrich, But damn the boy if I don't slap him later!_ The blade gets pulled back through me causing me to scream again and I fall to my knees.

"Rose!" I hear people shout.

"Rosabelle, now will you come back to me?" XANA asks above me.

"N-Never! I-I won't b-be coming b-back t-to you! E-ever!" I manage to get out.

"Well that's a shame," he says cheekily.

"D-Deal w-with it!" I yell. He kicks me and I roll a few yards. After stopping I get up and look at him. Seeing a tower nearby I run towards it, knowing we couldn't bring Ulrich out until XANA was completely out of him. XANA follows me to the tower and I run inside to give Aelita time to get to the activated tower. Of course XANA follows me in and pulls me to him.

"Now Rosabelle, why must you run?"

"Because I don't deal with pricks like you XANA!"

"What if I kept him in here? Would you like him better?"

"No! I don't want to stay here! I want you GONE!" I yell, head-butting then kicking him out of the tower. I run out and get sliced, cut, and stabbed by the katana again and fall to my knees screaming. I look up and see XANA about to deliver the final blow that would devirtualize me and then he freezes.

Aelita had made it to the tower. There in front of me now, stood Ulrich. I smile as Jeremy brings us all out of Lyoko.

I step out of the scanner feeling the pains of what had just happened to me. Looking around I see Ulrich with Odd, Aelita, and Yumi. Jeremy rushes down to us and I walk over to Ulrich moving Yumi and Odd out of the way. I turn Ulrich to face me, slap him across the face, and yell, "ULRICH STERN YOU'RE A MORON!"

"What the heck was that for!" He asks me, holding his cheek.

"That's for not paying attention and letting XANA possess you!"

He looks at me stunned and says quietly, "That's all you're mad at? Y-You're not mad at me for making a kebob out of you or hurting you!"

"It wasn't you. It was XANA. I figured it wasn't you from the instant you wrapped your arms around my waist. You wouldn't ever do that," I reply color flooding to my face.

He looks at the ground a hand behind his head nervously. Yumi watches us and I see Aelita smile slightly. Confused by the actions before me I back away and walk to the elevator not sure how to deal with what's going on. The others file in behind me and we take the elevator up to the top and reach the open floor of the factory. We then head out of the factory and back towards the campus. I walk away from the group and find a rose bush with blooms on it. I stop and do a cliché thing, smell the roses.


	20. 20

(Let me give you a change of View)

Ulrich's P.O.V.

Rose was right! I'm a moron for more reasons than what she said. I should have paid attention. And I should do something but, I just can't. Yumi walks with me back to the school and I watch Rose walk away from us all. She stops at a rose bush and smells the roses. Granted it's almost over used, but just the fact that the simplest thing makes her smile like that, makes the cliché worth it I guess. I still can't believe I hurt her, when I said to myself I wouldn't. No. I didn't hurt her. Rose said it- that was XANA hurting her. And yet, I still feel bad. Oh who am I kidding? She probably said that but meant something else.

I walk back to my room and grab the book I hid in a drawer. Her sketch book I stole earlier looks as though it has seen many things. I open it and look through the pages. Some rough, some not done, but all pretty good. Some of these things look like monsters that should be in Lyoko. Maybe they were and we just haven't seen them yet. I find a blank page a bit after her last sketch and pull out a pencil. _I can't believe I'm about to do this. It's not going to be any good but I can try_. I start sketching on the blank page looking around every so often to make sure no one came into the room silently. Odd wouldn't, but there's a chance he could. I continue putting the picture in my head onto the paper and hear something outside the door. Hiding the book quickly I get up and open the door to reveal Rose.

"Hi," I say quickly.

"Hey," She replies smiling.

"What can I do for you?" I ask, mentally slapping myself trying to make sure nothing stupid comes out of my mouth.

"I-I wanted to apologize, for hitting you. You didn't deserve it," she says, looking at the ground shyly.

"I-it's all right. I understand," I say feeling a heat creep up my face.

"I still feel bad. Is there anything I can do to make it up?" She asks.

_Here's my chance!_My mind says to me urging me to ask her something crucial. "I'll settle with this," I say pulling her to me in a hug.

She wraps her arms around me and I lean my head against hers, the scent of orchids and vanilla flooding my senses. I hold her there for what seems like a few seconds before I let go of her, knowing it would be very awkward instead of slightly. I look into her hazel eyes, reminding me of a forest with the green and brown colors mixed in her iris. Upon her face rests a light blush, similar to the one that must be on mine and she looks at the floor again. I smile and say, "Also, could I ask you something?"

"A-anything," She says quietly.

"Well, if I ever do that again, hit me harder," I reply calmly. Her head snaps up and she looks at me confusion prominent on her face. I smile and then she starts to laugh, sending warmth through me. I could never tell anyone how she makes me feel because if anyone knew, something bad would happen. I don't know what, but something.

"All right Ulrich, I promise. But you have to promise me something," She states.

"Anything," I reply simply.

She sighs then looks into my eyes and says, "If I ever turn to XANA again, I want you to do everything you can to get me out from his control. Even if it means hurting me all right?" I think for a minute looking at her. I couldn't make that promise! I spent this time trying not to really hurt her! "Promise me," I hear her say, pulling me out of my thoughts.

I sigh and look at her saying, "All right."

She smiles at me and kisses my cheek, "Thank you Ulrich."

"Y-you're welcome," I reply trying to hide the blush climbing into my cheeks. She smiles wider and walks away. I watch her walk, seeing her graceful strides and noticing how she almost floats as she walks. _It's probably a gymnast thing_, I think to myself. I shrug and regress back into my room and pull the book out again, working on that sketch.

I look out the window as the light fades in the room and realize that a lot of time has passed. I put the book away and head to the cafeteria to get dinner. Upon my arrival into the cafeteria I grab my selections and get blockaded by Sissy.

"Ulrich sweetheart, I want to tell you something," she says to me slyly.

"What is it Sissy?" I reply flatly.

"Come by my room if you want to find out," she states, twirling her hair and walking away. I shudder and walk to the table, sitting next to Rose. She looks at me confused and asks, "Sissy bothering you?"

"Oh beyond belief," I state, starting in on my food. She sighs and looks at the table.

"I'm sorry I can't do more to help you," She says quietly.

"It's fine. I'll deal with her," I reply looking at her. She smiles slightly, stands up and says, "Well, I need to go. I need to meet with people over dinner. Bye guys."

"Bye Rose," I say quietly.

She smiles and walks away to get blocked by William. I see them talk and he walks her out of the cafeteria, making her laugh. I glare at William out the window and see him lean into her to kiss her cheek. But what I see next, make me smile widely. She steps away from him and looks confused. If only I could read lips! Then I'd know what was going on. He says something and she just walks away. I wonder what happened? Would she even tell me? I don't know, but I know I should head back to my room and work on the sketch.

"Hello! Earth to Ulrich Stern! Paging Mr. Sissy target!" Odd says, waving a hand in front of my face.

"Huh? What? Where?" I ask being pulled out of my thoughts.

"She's not around. Anyway, what were you thinking about?" he asks, looking from me to the window.

"Nothing, just looking outside," I reply, only lying slightly.

"Come on, tell me!"

"Odd, don't pry," I say as I stand up and throw my trash away. After doing that, I walk out of the cafeteria and head back to the dorm.

"Hey! Ulrich!" I hear behind me. I quietly groan, knowing it wasn't Sissy, but someone else who annoyed me.

"What do you want William?" I ask coldly.

"What's with Belle? Do you know where she's going?" he asks, reaching me.

"No. I don't know where Rose is going," I reply.

"Aren't you worried? I mean, she might not come back," he states almost worried.

"She'll come back. She's just meeting someone for something. But why do you care?" I ask looking at him.

"She's cool. Why?" he asks in reply.

"She's my friend and I care about my friends," I reply sharply.

"Someone's a bit touchy," He says looking at me with some expression.

"Look, I'm gonna go. I'm going to work on something," I state walking off.

"All right, see you around," William says as I walk off.

I keep walking and think about how I wanted this sketch to work. Without paying attention someone pulls me aside and I see Rose standing in front of me. "Didn't you have to meet someone?" I ask her.

"I did, but they cancelled on me," she says sadly.

"Can I ask what you were going to discuss?"

"It's about the music thing, and something else. We were going to discuss my job and such," she replies quietly.

"A-are you leaving?" I ask trying to hide my sadness.

"No. I'm not. I won't be leaving for a while. But I might be travelling a bit. But I'll always come back," she replies smiling at me.

"Great! What will you be doing?"

"I'll be recording another song and going to do gymnastics," she states simply.

"Woah, that's impressive."

"I like to think so."

"Well it is, I'm sorry they cancelled on you," I say.

"I'm not. It means I'm still here and don't have to worry about much," she responds smiling.

I chuckle a bit and smile at her. She laughs a bit and says, "Well, I should head to bed. Night Ulrich." She walks off and I watch her go, wishing I could tell her my thoughts, but she wouldn't want to know. I walk back into my room, lie on my bed, and start sketching again. As I hear the door open I hide the sketch book and see Odd walking in.

"Not feeling well?" he asks sitting on his bed.

"Headache," I reply simply.

"Oh, sorry," he says.

"Not a big deal," I state as we both get ready for bed. I lie on the bed and look at the ceiling. I finally close my eyes and start to dream of something I wish I could do- be normal.


	21. 21

Rose's POV

I wake up in the morning and look around my room. Thinking about my decisions for the future I start my morning routine. If only I could just, stay here and well, return to normal. I can't believe that life right now is what it is. But it makes it easier with Ulrich around. I smile and feel my heart start to race a bit and my stomach start to flip. _Do I have feelings for him? I haven't felt like this for years. But, I bet he won't feel the same for me. He seems to like Yumi a lot._ I finish my morning routine and walk into the cafeteria for breakfast. I grab my breakfast and get stopped by Sissy.

"What do you think you're doing?" she asks me snidely.

"Getting my breakfast and talking to the dullest person on campus," I reply coldly.

She glares at me and pokes a finger in my chest saying, "Stay away from Ulrich. He's mine."

I laugh at her and say, "I bet he'd rather live alone all his life than be yours. You're self-centered and fake."

"Take that back!" She yells.

"What, take back the truth? I don't think so Elizabeth. I'll let you think about what I've said," I push past her and take my usual seat looking at Ulrich who was smiling at me. "What?"

"Thank you," he says to me.

"You're welcome. Sorry if I lied about that," I say starting on my breakfast.

"Nah, you didn't. I'd rather be alone than deal with her in my life," he says eating his breakfast.

I smile and eat my breakfast in peace. As we finish our breakfast we start talking about different things and the topic of a showcase comes up.

"I'm not sure what I should do," Odd says sadly.

"Well, I don't think I'm going to do anything for it," Aelita says simply.

"I'm not sure either," I state quietly.

"You should, come on. You could sing, or do one of your gymnastics routines," Ulrich says enthusiastically. He blushes a bit and I know there's a blush upon my face as well.

"Maybe Jim will have insight on this show case rumor. I wonder what's going to happen," Jeremy states as we clean up our mess and head to the class room.

"Maybe," Angel chimes in.

We all sit in class and go through our day as normal. As we walk into the gym in our gym clothes Jim starts explaining our lesson. He tells us what we're going to be doing and as we get ready to do track and field, he starts in on the showcase. "Now class there is a showcase coming up and I want you all to try for it. There will be people here from the city, the school board, parents, and other people who want to see this production. I want us to look good for these people and show them what we can do. Granted this will be an arts showcase but we'll have some other things as well. I know I want two people to do something because they can do it very well. Now, let's work on our track and field and then we will deal with this showcase later," He says as he walks outside to the track.

"Wonder who the two people are," Odd says as we walk out to the track.

"Dunno," Ulrich says walking with me behind Odd.

"I guess we won't know," Jeremy says as we walk. We reach the track and Jim has us run three laps to 'warm us up'. Ulrich and I run beside one another and I notice Sissy eyeing me. I roll my eyes and continue running around the track. Sissy gets next to me and does something, causing me to trip. I fall onto the track and roll a bit, my momentum causing me to continue moving after my fall. I try to get up but wince from the scrapes and the tumble I took. I look around and see Ulrich pulling me up and Jeremy, Aelita, Odd, and Angel standing around me. "Are you all right?" Jeremy asks.

"Yeah, sure. Fine," I say looking at him.

"Sissy! What was that for?" Ulrich asks angrily.

"I didn't do anything! She's just a klutz," Sissy states smiling a bit.

"You are such-"

"Ulrich, don't bother with her. She's not worth your time," I say cutting him off. He looks at me and sighs. "Fine."

"Thank you," I reply to him. I start walking, limping slightly from the ankle Sissy caused me to sprain.

"Sterling, you all right?" Jim asks running to me.

"Fine," I say simply.

"Sissy caused her to sprain her ankle," Jeremy states.

"Sissy! What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything Jim. Honest!" She says cutsily.

"I saw her trip Rose," Aelita states.

"I did not! They just want to get me in trouble!" Sissy whines.

"Jim, she does gymnastics. Don't you think she's able to run without falling?" Ulrich supplies quickly.

"You can?" Jim asks me.

"Of course I can," I reply simply. I just hope I don't land on my face with the sprained ankle. I look at Jim and start doing back walk-overs, handsprings, cartwheels, and aerial summersaults down the straight side of the track to "Ooh's" and "Aah's". As I finish my last handspring I stick the landing and start to walk back, only to fall on my already sprained ankle. Angel rushes to me and helps me up on my feet.

"Bad Rose, you shouldn't have done that!" she scolds.

"Well, I did. And there's nothing you can do about it! I'm older than you so shush," I say through gritted teeth.

"Ulrich, think you can help me?" Angel asks smiling. I look at Angel confused and then I feel someone pick me up, bridal style. I look at Ulrich who smiles at me and says, "Jim, I'm taking her to the infirmary."

Jim nods and Ulrich starts walking me to the nurse. I look at him and say, "You know, I can walk right? I did gymnastics on that ankle."

"And if you walk on it after doing that, you might not be able to do it again," Ulrich points out. I frown at him, knowing that what he says is very true. He smiles and chuckles at me as he asks, "You don't like being cared for, do you?"

"No, I don't. I feel like I was always the one to care for others. I don't know why," I reply quietly.

"Maybe you had a younger sibling?"

"Maybe," I state. He walks me into the nurse and looks around. The nurse walks out and looks at me. "What happened?" She asks.

"She was tripped," Ulrich says to the nurse. "Jim told me to bring her here."

"I might have sprained my ankle and I did gymnastics on it," I expand.

"Why on Earth would you do that?" she asks stunned, starting to move around to get things for my ankle. Ulrich sets me on a bed and sits on it next to me as the nurse bustles around. She walks to me with an ace bandage and ice for my ankle. "Why did you do gymnastics on a possible sprained ankle?" she asks, putting the ice bag on my ankle. I wince slightly and reply, "To make a point that I can run without falling on my face. I do gymnastics and thus, should be able to run on my own without falling."

"It's true, and my fault. I said she was a gymnast," Ulrich says quietly.

"I'm the one who performed on a sprained ankle. Just because you said it doesn't mean I have to follow it," I reply.

"I guess," he states. The nurse looks over my ankle and moves it causing me to wince and take a sharp breath in. Ulrich quickly grabs my hand and holds it, causing a light blush to flush my face.

"It's nothing major dear. Just try to stay off it for a day. Wear an ace bandage, and don't do gymnastics for a week," the nurse diagnoses.

"All right," Ulrich and I say in unison. We look at each other and smile.

"You should have someone help you," the nurse says, wrapping my ankle up in an ace bandage.

"I-I'll take care of her," Ulrich says smiling.

"Thank you," she says to him. She looks at me and asks, "Can I have your name my dear?"

"Rosabelle Sterling ma'am," I state smiling.

"Ms. Sterling, I want you to rest that ankle all right?"

"Yes ma'am. Thank you for your time," I say starting to get off the bed as she finishes my ankle. Ulrich picks me up again as a squeak in surprise. He smiles and chuckles slightly at me.

"Thank you Mr. Stern, but that isn't what I meant by keeping her off that ankle," the nurse says chuckling.

"Well, I'm fine with carrying her if she's fine with me carrying her," he says looking at me. I nod and reply, "I'm fine with it."

"Be careful with her Mr. Stern. I wouldn't want to see her in here again soon with a concussion," the nurse says smiling.

"I'll be careful with her. She won't be hurt because of me," he replies as we walk out of the nurse's office. I look at him and smile thinking, _What on Earth could he be thinking? Why carry me so much? He's sweet, but I bet he doesn't feel the way I do. Will I ever know his thoughts?_ I rest in his arms and ponder the multiple questions whirling through my head.


	22. 22

Ulrich's POV

I promised myself when I met her that first time, I wouldn't hurt her. How could people think I would? Granted, I caused her to get hurt today because Sissy has leached onto me. Sissy views Rose as a threat to her standing with me and it really does. Considering the fact that Sissy is a spoiled brat who no one could really like, Rose poses a threat for her in every way with every guy. I look at her, smile and ask, "What are you thinking about?"

She looks up at me and says, "Nothing much. I'm just thinking about, people." She blushes and pauses before saying the last word.

"People? Like who?" I ask, feeling the curiosity well inside me.

"Well, our friends, the most annoying person in the world, and my past," she replies.

"Your past? What do you remember?" I prod, seeing if she remembers anything else.

"Well, I remember being a ranked gymnast, I remember that house we saw in the forest, I remember being sent into Lyoko four years before my father came in, but I don't remember much more than that. And even with those few things, they're just fleeting images that I might not be remembering. I'm not sure," she states, looking down at the ground. I frown, wishing there is something I can do to help her remember. I can't believe not knowing who you are. I couldn't imagine having that happen to me.

"We'll find a way to get them back to you," I assure her. She smiles slightly but the sadness still stays in her eyes and that look just makes me want to march to XANA and force him to give back Rose's memory to her. Looking into her eyes my heart races and I feel like I would do anything for her, to make her smile and be happy. No one ever made me feel like this before. But, knowing Rose, she's able to have anyone on the campus why would she take me?

"Thank you Ulrich. For everything you've done for me. I don't think I could thank you enough," she says quietly.

"You're welcome. And you don't have to. You're my friend after all. This is what we do for friends," I say lying partially.

"Well, can you put me down? Please, I'm fine I promise I won't do any gymnastics," She pleads. I look into her eyes and smile setting her down. She smiles at me and blushes lightly. "I'm going to head to my room," she says looking at me.

"All right. If you need me, you have my number and I'll come get you," I say quickly.

"All right. Thank you Ulrich," She replies.

I look at her and see Yumi walking up. She smiles at me and I can't help but smile back. I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. Rose has my dad's approval and she's just amazing. Yumi's been there this whole time and she's pretty awesome, but she's not that personal. Rose is almost like my opposite in some ways and similar in others. She's smart, caring, protective, and she's different.

"Hey Ulrich!" Yumi says as she stands in front of me.

"Hey Yumi, what's up?" I ask looking at her.

"Nothing much. You?" She replies simply.

"Nothing really, Sissy's up to her usual again," I state plainly.

"When isn't she?" she replies chuckling slightly. I look at her and feel the need to making her stop laughing about this. Rose was hurt by Sissy! I stop my train of thought and realize while I may like Yumi; Rose is the one I care about. Sure Yumi is pretty, smart, and interesting, but I just wanted to make Yumi stop laughing about an incident that hurt Rose.

"You ok Ulrich?" Yumi asks me pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Yeah, umm just thinking of things," I reply blushing slightly. She attains a light blush on her face and she starts to move nervously looking down at the ground.

"Oh, mind me asking what?" She asks quietly.

"Things," I reply, not wanting to tell her and knowing she wouldn't pry.

"Alright, well I just wanted to see how you were doing," she says plainly.

"I'm doing fine, well I should be going," I say quietly.

"U-Ulrich… I just want to say something," she says quickly.

"Y-yeah?" I ask waiting for her to say what's on her mind.

"You know, our relationship is different. We're just walking circles around each other," she states flatly.

"What do you mean?" I ask her, confused.

"Well, I've noticed that one day you're jealous when I'm with William and the next I'm jealous when you're with Rose. We've got to make sure we're both clear on our relationship," she finishes.

"And… that would mean?"

She sighs and says, "I'd like to be something more, but things are complicated."

I blush comprehending the words she had just said. _What about Rose! You know you care for her more! You just realized it! You've had a crush on Yumi for years but she's never shown interest in you until you found Rose._ "So… what do we do?"

"I don't know. W-what do you think?"

I think for a while and say, "I-I can't answer right now."

"Then, can I do something?"

Confused I look at her and nod. She leans in and kisses me. Stunned I kiss her back. Feeling nothing but that emotion of surprise from the kiss. She pulls away and looks at me with a blush on her face and I know there's a matching one on mine. "W-well I-I should be going," She says quietly.

I nod not sure what to say or if I could say anything at all. She walks away quickly and I look around seeing Rose, running towards the forest. She had seen Yumi kiss me. I stand there and look back and forth from Yumi walking away and where Rose had run off. This was where problems would start, choosing between two teammates.


	23. 23

Rose's POV

I run through the trees trying to find someplace I could be by myself. I find a clearing deep in the woods and sit down in the center. Why is life so hard! So many choices and my heart not making either choice easy to see. William is charming, sweet, outgoing, and interesting. Ulrich is quiet, strong, mysterious, and loyal. I nervously play with the silver necklace with a large pendant that I never take off. Ulrich and Yumi kissed! They're meant for each other and I had gotten in the way. Since Ulrich was now with Yumi, it makes my choice easier. Tears fall down my cheeks from the pain in my heart from seeing Ulrich with Yumi. I sit in the clearing for a while thinking of what I could do when I hear my phone ring. I look at it to see Ulrich calling. I debate ignoring the call but answer, hiding my sadness behind happiness. "Hey Ulrich! What's going on?"

"Where are you? I haven't seen you for a while and you're not in your room," He says concern filling his tone.

"I'm sitting outside. I'm fine Ulrich, really," I reply quietly.

"Rose, A-are you sure?" He asks quickly.

"Yes. I'm sure," I say firmly.

"Well, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind me coming to see you," he says, nerves showing up in his voice.

"I'll meet you in the gym Ulrich," I say simply hanging up the phone. I start walking towards the gym and once inside start stretching knowing that gymnastics would calm me down. I finish my stretches and start on a line of hand springs, cartwheels, layouts, and aerial somersaults. I look at the door and see Ulrich standing there watching me. I walk over to him and say, "What did you need me for?"

"I just wanted to make sure you're alright," He says quietly.

"Why wouldn't I be?" I reply raising an eyebrow.

"Not sure, but I saw you running away and I wanted to make sure you were good."

He saw me run after he and Yumi kissed! Man I KNEW that I was feeling something off! "I'm fine Ulrich. I don't know why you think I wouldn't be," I explain simply.

He blushes slightly and looks at me. "Well, uh… when I saw you running… I-I guess I thought," he tries to explain, nervously putting a hand behind his head and looking away from me.

"You thought what?" I probed, knowing the answer and trying to formulate a counter in my head.

He blushes brighter at having to admit something. "I-I thought you were r-running because you saw Yumi and me… together. It's stupid but," he stammers.

"Kinda, why would I care what goes on with you and Yumi? Everyone knows you have a crush on her. You two will be happy together," I explain feeling my heart break inside me from the words coming out of my mouth. Tears try to force their way into my eyes but I force them to stay back. Ulrich looks at me and I can't read his face. It looks to be a mix of confusion, sadness, hurt, and something else.

"O-oh," he says quietly looking at the floor.

"Y-yeah. A-anything else?"

"Yes," He says quickly and firmly. I look at him and tilt my head slightly confused.

"And that would be?"

"I want to- never mind," He says losing all confidence he had. I bite my lip and fight back the urge to kiss him, knowing that wouldn't do anything. I look at the ground and clench my fists holding in my emotions.

"Then I'll see you around," I say quietly. He nods without looking at me and I walk off with my broken heart bleeding in my chest.

"Rose?" I hear from in front of me. I look and see William walking towards me with a look of concern on his face.

"What is it William?" I ask looking at him.

"Are you all right? You don't look it," He asks taking my hand.

"I'm just- working through things," I say choking on tears.

William hugs me tightly and rubs my back as I hug him back. "You can tell me anything Rose," He says quietly.

"I d-don't want to talk about it," I say through tears.

"Alright. Then let me just hold you until you feel better?" He asks tenderly. I nod and continue holding onto him. I like William, but my heart still tells me to run back to Ulrich, grab him by the front of his shirt and kiss him letting all of my feelings be known and claiming him as mine. But… Yumi got there first, and Ulrich seemed happy. I guess I'm not that girl.


	24. 24

**Author's Note: Hello! It's me... Rose. :D Anyway... I wanted to take the opportunity to Answer some questions for a reader, May Ewing who is really awesome. 1) The last Sentence in Chapter 20... it's talking about the Vertigo, Lyoko, and his feeling like he can't express his emotions like the others can. 2) Yumi kissed Ulrich to see if she could still be competition for Rose to get Ulrich. She still has a crush on him. 3) Ulrich still has some feelings for Yumi, even though he has a greater amount for Rose. You'll see in the next couple of chapters... maybe even this one.**

**This Chapter is dedicated to May Ewing! My Biggest Fan! Thank you for reading May, and I'm glad you like my work. Keep reading and reviewing. I look forward to hearing from you, and all my other readers!**

Ulrich's POV

Why did I let her walk away! I'M A MORON! I rest my face in my hands sitting on the gym floor where Rose left me standing. Did she really mean that she didn't care what happened between Yumi and me? Did she really mean that we'd be happy together? God she frustrates me! Only she can get under my skin this much and I don't feel like hurting her. I feel like grabbing her, pinning her to a wall and kissing her but, I can't. I sigh, stand up, and walk back to my room seeing Rose with William. He was making her smile and laugh.

Something I wish I could do for her. But I can't. I walk into my room and pull out the sketch book of Rose's and start working on it a bit more. I look up as I feel someone's presence and see Odd standing there. "You alright?" He asks.

I sigh and reply, "No. I'm not."

Odd sits on his bed, looks at me, and asks, "What's up?"

"A lot," I reply laying back on my bed holding the book close to my chest.

"I have time," He says prodding.

"Well, Yumi said she wants to be more than friends," I say knowing I had to tell someone to work this through in my mind.

"She did? What did you say?" His voice was now showing his curiosity.

"Well, I told her I'd have to think about it, and then she…"

"She what!" I knew I had him on edge with information. Odd loves knowing everything, the nosy and curious Cat-human as Rose had called him before.

"She kissed me," I say simply looking at his reaction which was priceless and sitting up on the bed. His jaw was on the floor and eyes wide as saucers. I smirk at him as he looks at me and says, "You're pulling my chain."

"I'm not. She kissed me," I reply chuckling at his expression.

"And you still had to think about it after that!"

"Yeah… because, I like Yumi and all, but…"

"You think you like someone else?" he supplies, finishing my sentence. I nod and hold the sketchbook to me tighter. The one bit of Rose I could have. "You should tell her Ulrich."

"I can't! She saw Yumi and I kiss and she ran off. When I talked to her she said I was stupid for thinking that and that she doesn't care what Yumi and I do. She also said that she thinks we'll be happy together. But I wanted her to be jealous and upset that Yumi kissed me. Because then that means she likes me back. And she wasn't! She was considerate and almost genuine with wishing us happiness! She just-"

"Annoys you but you want to do things to her that no one else should even think of with her?" he adds, once again reading my mind.

"No. Yes… Maybe! I don't know!" I say exasperatedly.

"Maybe you need to relax and just let things run their course. She probably doesn't want to get involved because, well let's face it. You have two girls already that really like you, other girls develop crushes on you easily by you just smiling at them, and you haven't made your feelings known to her about her," he explains wisely. How is it that the normally dim one can be so knowledgeable about this? I'll never know.

"I guess, but… I saw her with William," I state sadly.

"Again? That guy just won't give up!" he replies agitated.

"I know. He found the most beautiful, amazing, and wonderful girl on campus and has latched onto her like Sissy did to me."

"Yeah, he did. I'm sorry about that, but you shouldn't just sulk. Fight him for her! Use his own tricks against him," Odd advises.

"Oh yeah? And how am I supposed to do that? It's not really my style now is it?" I reply shortly laying back on the bed.

"You might have to step out of your comfort zone for this one Ulrich. I know you don't want to, but this girl is different and you should take her up on being in your life. No matter what it does to your pride," he says quietly.

I look at him, rest on my side with my head on my fist, "You've been talking with Angel and Aelita about this haven't you?"

Odd narrows his eyes, like he does when he knows he's been beaten. "Yes. I have, but so what?" He states simply. "Your problems are the issues here… not where I get my words from."

I chuckle a bit and realize that was his end game, to get me to laugh. That was always his prime motivation, seeing as he was always trying to have people laugh. "True but still," I say smiling a bit.

"Still nothing. Dude, you need to figure out who you like more, and go after them. If you really like Rose, you'll have to win her affections," he says simply.

"It's easier said than done Odd," I retort.

"You know about her likes and dislikes right?" he counters.

"Kinda," I reply frowning.

"Well what do you know?"

"She likes roses, she's a gymnast, and she likes classical music, she sings, dances, reads, and likes the arts."

"Ok then, what does she not like?"

"Ummm, I'm not sure. I made sure I found out her likes," I admit sullenly.

"Look through her sketch book that you're holding closely. That'll let you into her mind more than anything," Odd says point to the book against my chest. I blush lightly, realizing that I hadn't hid it from him and that I hadn't thought of it myself. Taking the book from me, Odd looks through the pages making notes in his head. "You know two colors I don't see together in any of these?"

I look at him and then to the book, "Red and black?"

"Exactly, so do not do anything that requires her to be with both red and black," he suggests simply.

I nod and look at him as he hands the book back to me. "I noticed that she has a thing for cute things, be it scenes, puppies, or things like that. She also likes sparkly things, she's a crow!" Odd says smiling slightly.

"She is not! But she is easily distracted by shiny objects at times," I reply smiling. I look through her sketches again and see the observation he had made. A few sketches that weren't finished have a couple sitting under a tree, another couple dancing, and another couple walking by a river. I realize that this is what I can do, I may not be able to say what I want because well, it's not me and I'd probably mess it up. But these things I could probably do, but at the same time, William's probably already started on this. I groan and lay on my bed thinking of how I could win her over, knowing William would be better at doing things like what would fancy her.


	25. 25

Rose's POV

I lie on my bed and look at the ceiling of my room with Aelita and Angel in the room with me.

"Wait… run that by me again!" Angel says stunned.

"Me as well," Aelita states looking at me.

"I was walking back to tell Ulrich something and then I saw him and Yumi kiss. I ran off so that I could be alone for a few minutes because I was upset. After being alone for a while Ulrich called me and I met him in the gym where we talked. He told me that he thought I ran off because of him and Yumi kissing, I lied and told him no, and then I wished him and Yumi happiness in their relationship. I then walked out and William comforted me. He just wanted to hold me until I felt better and then when I did he made me laugh by telling me funny stories about pranks he had pulled at his old school. After that I came back here and well… you're caught up again," I explain.

"So, Ulrich and Yumi-"

"Yes. They did," I say with pain in my heart.

"Do you… Like him?" Aelita asks, seeing my face as I lay across the bed.

"Who?" I ask, knowing she could mean two people.

"Either of them," she clarifies. I stop and think for a minute. William was the one who could tell me what he felt, Ulrich might show me. William is outgoing, while Ulrich is introverted. William might get expelled for pranking; Ulrich might get expelled for protecting someone. When I think of William, I think of a prankster who might joke around and lie to get something; but when I think of Ulrich, I think of someone who I can rely on, someone who would be there. But, Ulrich so far has strung me along, granted I never told him how I felt about him but he's always had a thing for Yumi. And I know that in my heart, he would always have a place in my heart but that I should settle for William.

"Rose," Angel says pulling me from my thoughts. I look at her and say, "Both."

"What!" Both girls say to me, jaws on the floor and eyes wide in surprise.

"You like them both?" Aelita asks astonished. I nod and she continues by asking, "Well… will you tell us what you like about them?"

"William tell me how he feels, he's not afraid to say what's on his mind. He's cool, collected, and well, he's fun. Ulrich is strong, protective, sweet and caring in his own way, loyal, devoted, and he's a great listener. He just makes me smile," I explain.

"So, from that, I can guess you like Ulrich a bit more," Aelita says piecing things together.

"I guess so," I say quietly.

"Can I try something with you?" Aelita asks frowning.

"Sure," I say, sitting up and looking at her.

"Ok. I want you to lay back, close your eyes, and think about Ulrich."

I nod and lie back down on the bed, close my eyes and think about Ulrich. Automatically my mind flashes back to the first time I met him in Lyoko. My Warrior Boy actually talking with me instead of trying to kill me, saving me before I fell, pulling me out of harm's way and bringing me out of Lyoko. Then when I came here, he helped me around and made me feel like I belong here. I remember the soccer game and our picnic afterwards, him trying to help me remember my past, and making sure I knew I had someone who would be there for me that I could talk to.

"Now, think of William," Aelita says sounding distant in my memories and thoughts. I shift my mind to William. My smile that was wide slightly narrows and I think of William and how he's always around talking with every girl and flirting with her. Ulrich wouldn't do that and doesn't do that.

"Now, which one makes you feel better after that little exercise?" Aelita asks. I open my eyes and look at the ceiling, smiling widely.

"Ulrich. He's the one who couldn't get out of my mind. When I thought of William, I compared him to Ulrich, I couldn't stop myself," I explain quietly.

"Then I suggest you get that gymnast butt outta that bed and cartwheel yourself to his room and tell him you're a moron and that you want him," Angel says smiling.

I blush brightly, roll onto my side, and rest my head on my hand looking at my two friends. "I'm nervous," I admit shyly.

"Then write him a note. I'll take it when I go see Odd later," Angel offers.

"I don't think this is something someone should do through a note," I say quietly.

"If you don't tell him I'll write a note and sign it from you!" She insists. I groan, get up, sit at the desk in the room, and write a note on a piece of paper. I fold it up and put it in an envelope, handing it to Angel I say, "I trust you not to open it."

Angel takes the envelope saying, "Only for you. Well… I'll go deliver this!" She smiles and skips out of the room. Aelita and I watch after her and say simultaneously, "She has some issues."

We look at each other and smile. "Well that was different," I say laughing randomly.

"It was," Aelita says giggling. "I wonder how Ulrich's going to react to your note."

"I have no idea. But I'm going to be curious what he does about it," I say sadly. I look out the window of my room and sigh thinking about what I would do meeting Ulrich tomorrow.


	26. 26

Rose's POV  
>I wake up in the morning and smile. Today I tell Ulrich the truth. I get dressed in my usual turquoise skirt, lavender shirt, and grayish sweater slipping on my shoes and looking in the mirror. I smile putting on my necklace and tying my hair up in its usual ponytail and say to myself, "You can do this." I walk out of the room and towards the cafeteria. I sit with Aelita after getting my breakfast and start eating in silence, feeling some tension from her. Seeing Ulrich walking with Odd I know from Ulrich's face he had seen something out of the ordinary and was confused. We all eat in silence and Jeremy comes in smiling and happy. "Slide over and make me some room," He says smiling.<p>

"Don't you want to sit with Heidi?" Aelita asks, standing up and walking away. Odd watches Aelita and gets up to see what's wrong with her. I look at Ulrich confused and he shrugs, standing up as I do. "Guess you won't be needing your croissant," he says to Jeremy, taking the bread off Jeremy's tray and walking out. I follow after Ulrich trying to figure out my words to say to him when we got the moment alone. William walks up and says, "Hey Ulrich, did you know Yumi's dating Mathias Durell?"

"What?" Ulrich and I say almost in union. At that point Yumi walks up saying, "Morning everyone!" She takes the croissant in Ulrich's hand and says, "Thanks Ulrich."

"Shouldn't you be with Durell?" William asks coldly.

"He's a nice guy," she says looking at William.

"How does he kiss? Pretty well?" Ulrich asks just as coldly as he walks away.

"What?" Yumi asks confused. I shrug and look at Jeremy as he walks out of the cafeteria. "Rumor has it I'm dating Mathias Durell?" Yumi asks Jeremy.

"Oh really? Rumor has it I kissed Heidi Klinger," Jeremy replies. "You had anything happen Rose?"

I shake my head and remember I was supposed to meet Ulrich right now, right here. I asked him to talk after breakfast, I look around and see Sissy with her cronies talking about something, and then something that made my heart lurch out of my skin. Ulrich walks up to Sissy and kisses her. Yumi, Jeremy, and I gasp at the event and I quickly compose myself and start walking towards class.

I sit down in my chair in front of Jeremy and tap my fingers on my desk. Ulrich walks in and debates on sitting next to me or next to Jeremy. He chooses to sit next to Jeremy and they start talking about something, while I take notes and look at the book. I get poked in the back and turn around to see Ulrich about to say something when the teacher asks him a question. "When did Gallume die?"

Ulrich falters for a second finally coming up with, "At the end of his life?" Students laugh around the room as I roll my eyes and write down answers to the chapter review. We continue to talk about WWI and I sigh as Ulrich continues to try and talk to me. As class ends I grab my things and walk out quickly avoiding Ulrich at all costs not knowing what I would do if faced with him; slap him, start crying, or yell, cry, and then walk away. Either way, I don't want to find out.


	27. 27

Ulrich's POV

I'm so confused right now! One minute Rose says she wants to talk with me, and the next, she's ignoring me! What happened? Jeremy said something about me kissing Sissy, but I never did. Where on Earth would he get that stupid delusion? Me, kiss Sissy! That's the craziest thing I've heard. I walk around with Odd and see Rose walking towards William. She then kisses him and Odd and I watch, stunned by what just happened. She turns around, looks me in the eyes, and walks away.

"Did she just?" Odd asks thoroughly confused.

"Yeah, she did," I say flatly. I felt something inside me that I hadn't felt really when William told me about Yumi and Mathias. I was a bit angry, but here, I was sad, hurt, and furious. I walk off and see Rose sitting on a bench under a tree. I walk up to her and say, "So. I see you'll go out with William but not hold a promise to me?"

She looks at me stunned and says coldly, "Well if you had met with me after breakfast instead of locking lips with Sissy we'd already have discussed some things wouldn't we?" I look at her and see her fists clenched tightly, her knuckles white from the pressure she was giving.

"I never kissed Sissy!" I almost yell at her.

"Well Yumi, Jeremy, and I saw you!" She says standing up and looking me in the eyes.

"Then you all are taking some crazy pill because I would never touch her! And what about you and William huh? Have fun kissing him?"

She looks at me with eyes wide and then narrows her gaze to a glare. "Why do you care anyway? You're dating Yumi aren't you? Shouldn't you be beating up Mathias for kissing your girl?" She asks with ice in her voice. She turns around and starts walking away. I grab her arm and turn her around to face me again and growl, "Yumi and I aren't dating. Never were and I don't know where you got that delusion from."

She looks at me with daggers in her eyes and says, "The same way you think I'm going out with William apparently. You two Kissed! You know I saw you!"

"So What? We kissed it doesn't mean anything!" I yell.

"You Hypocrite!" She yells pushing me away. "Don't you dare tell me that a kiss doesn't matter if you're on your soap box over a kiss I never did!"

"Odd and I saw you!" I yell back at her.

"Then you need to get your eyes checked Stern! Because I haven't seen William today except for this morning when he said Yumi kissed Durell."

"You know what? I'd like to believe you but I just can't right now," I say angrily.

"I don't give a damn what you believe or not Stern! I really don't!" She says walking away. I grab her arm again and she hauls off and slaps me across the face. "Do Not Touch Me!" She snarls. She jerks away from my grasp and walks away. That was the only time I had seen her unclench one of her fists, and it went right back to being that way. I watch her walk away and hear chatter behind me. Rounding on the commentators I see them to be Yumi, Odd, and Angel. "What do you want?" I ask harshly.

"Ulrich," Angel says stepping forward. "She's hu-"

"I don't give a damn what's going on with her! She can go and do whatever. I don't care!" I say, trying to convince myself completely that it was the truth. My phone rings and I look at it, seeing it's Jeremy I answer it, "What?"

"There's an activated tower. Meet me in the park!" He says before he hangs up. I nod, hang up my phone and look at my three friends, "Jeremy says there's an activated tower and to meet him in the park."

They nod and we start running off to the park. When we arrive at the park, we wait for a bit and Jeremy meets us there. "Right, I can explain everything. All this kissing is another one of XANA's schemes," he explains.

"That doesn't make any sense," Odd says. "He can't control us."

"I know that," Jeremy says matter of factly. "But I also know that I did not kiss Heidi. So there must be a Jeremy clone somewhere."

"And a Yumi clone," Yumi says.

"And and Ulrich clone also," I state simply.

"Right, and I bet they're all just one big polymorphic clone," Jeremy says, expecting us to know every word that comes out of his genius brain.

"A poly what?" Odd asks as I stand up from my seat on the ground.

"A polymorphic clone," Jeremy says again. "It can change its appearance at will. XANA must have sent a kind of ghost that can look like anyone it wants to."

"But why?" I ask, slightly confused.

"To make trouble in our group, to divide and conquer," Yumi explains.

"XANA's really smart, not like us," I say solemnly.

"I guess Odd was right, jealousy makes people go crazy," Jeremy says, trying to lighten the mood I guess.

"Listen, we've got to go to Lyoko to solve this," Odd says.

"Where's Aelita?"Angel pipes up.

"And Rose?" Jeremy asks looking around. "Well Aelita's gone, and it's my fault."

"Way to go Jeremy! Where could she have gone?" Yumi says sarcastically.

"I think I might know where Aelita is," Jeremy says after thinking for a second. "But as for Rose, I wouldn't have the faintest idea. Angel?"

"Well, I don't know either," Angel admits. She pulls out her cell phone and calls Rose. After waiting for a bit she hangs up saying, "Voicemail. It's on and she might be ignoring it due to someone's cruel words." She looks at me and I sigh.

"What did you do Ulrich?" Jeremy asks astonished.

"I yelled at her," I explain simply.

"He did. She slapped him again and called him a hypocrite though," Angel supplies.

"Any way, we need to find Aelita and Rose and get into Lyoko!" Odd says finishing the conversation. "Lead the way Einstein!"

We all run after Jeremy, and I pull out my phone calling Rose, hoping she'd pick up. I was so stupid to yell at her! "Hey! You've reached Rose. Leave a message after the beep and I'll get back to you as soon as I'm free. Bye!" Was her voicemail message. Where in the world could she be?


	28. 28

Rose's POV

I run to the factory and sit at the computer crying. I look at my hands and see the blood on my palms from the bad habit I have of clenching my fists tightly when I'm angry. I had slapped him again. I had hit him, something I never wanted to do! But… he yelled at me and was being a hypocritical ass! I didn't kiss William and I saw him kiss Sissy. He lied to me! With tears streaming down my face, I type in a delayed virtualization and head into Lyoko, to my sector where I know I can be alone. The Eden feel makes me relax slightly and I lay in the grass crying.

I lay there for what feels like hours and hear a voice, the familiar voice of Jeremy Belpois. "Rose? Rose are you in here?"

"What do you want Jeremy?" I say through sniffles.

"We need your help! XANA's attacking," Jeremy says quickly.

"I don't give a damn anymore Jeremy. I really don't," I say blandly.

"Look, They'll explain when you get to the desert sector. Aelita's only got one protector right now and they're being beaten. Please!" he pleads.

I sigh and walk into the tower in the lake, and show up in the desert sector. "Where are they Jeremy?" I ask starting to run.

"Head north, they'll be there with Hornets, a tarantula, and the scyphozoa's got Aelita!"

I run faster, vault over the tarantula and it's opponent, remove my chakram from my belt and throw it, slicing the tentacles off the scyphozoa from a distance due to the connecting bridge being gone. Aelita drops to the ground in front of the squid like creature and lays there. I look around after catching my chakram to see what else I had to deal with. Then I see exactly who I was supposed to help. "Really Jeremy! You LIED to me?"

"Not really," he says quickly. "I just didn't tell you everything!"

"That's lying by omission Einstein!"

"Rose, just give me a minute and I'll explain everything!" Ulrich says fighting with the Hornets. I roll my eyes and get hit in the back from the tarantula's laser. I slide forward a bit and hear Ulrich yell, "ROSE!"

I whip around and throw my chakram at the monster and smile as it blows up. Catching my chakram I kneel next to Aelita and shake her shoulder, "No Napping on the job Lita."

"But Rosie," she says half awake. I blink and looks at Aelita confused. She sits up and quickly stands, starting to run to the tower. _Why was that name so familiar?_ I start running with her towards the tower as Ulrich fights off the last of the monsters. Suddenly, I see another scyphozoa headed for Aelita. Kicking Aelita in the back, sending her into the tower before the scyphozoa can get her, I smile at my handy work and get caught instead.

The scyphozoa starts draining my memories and information, paralyzing me in the process. I can't move of do anything but look at the eye of XANA on its head. I hear voices around me but can't decipher what they're saying. Suddenly I fall to the ground, eyes closed and feeling very tired. I feel someone poke me and say my name. I open my eyes and sit up, resting on my elbows. "What happened?"

"Rose!" Ulrich says again hugging me tightly. Confused I hug him back and then remember, "I'm still mad at you."

"Rose I didn't kiss Sissy and you didn't kiss William. XANA sent a polymorphic clone that went around kissing people to stir up trouble in our group!" He explains quickly. I look at him and say, "I'm sorry Ulrich. I was hurt that you would kiss Sissy instead of meeting with me. And then you accused me, and I just got so upset."

"I know. I'm sorry! You and I need to talk when we get out of here ok?" He says holding me tightly to him.

I nod and hug him tightly, feeling safe in his embrace. He stands up and pulls me along, pulling me a bit to hard seeing as I fall into him. We both blush brightly feeling our bodies that close. I step away from him and look at the ground.

"Jeremy! We're ready to get out of here!" Ulrich says looking at the sky.

"Devritualizing you all now," Jeremy's voice says. Aelita, Ulrich, and I step out of the scanners and look at one another.

"You two really need to talk," Aelita says smiling walking to the elevator. Ulrich and I get matching blushes upon our cheeks and follow Aelita to the elevator. We stop at the computer room and find Angel, Odd, Yumi, and Jeremy. The four of them get into the elevator, Yumi adding a slight bit of tension to the mix. When the elevator stops at the top, we all get out and start walking back to the school.

Yumi heads back to her house, being a commuting student as we head back to Kadic. The group heads through the tunnels to come up through the man hole in the park. Jeremy climbs up first and helps Aelita out, followed by Odd who helps Angel, and I climb up after Angel, and take Ulrich's hand as he come up after me. "Come on Warrior Boy," I say to him as he takes my hand. He smiles at me and we look at each other. He doesn't let go of my hand and we just stare into each other's eyes.

"We need to talk," he says quietly, a blush creeping up his face.

"Yes we do," I reply feeling my cheeks flush as well. He takes my hand and walks with me back to the campus.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you Rose. I was just, hurt," he states.

"And you don't think I was too? You hate Sissy, and you kissed her in front of me. I was angry, confused, and hurt," I admit looking at the ground as we walk.

"So, what do we do about that?" he asks me, holding my arm and stopping me.

"About what?"

"Us, our relationship," he clarifies.

"Well, What would you like to do?" I ask him, a blush forming across my face.

"I-I don't know," he says timidly. This was a side of Ulrich, no one would really see. To every other person he's the tough martial artist who's stubborn and hides his feelings.

"Well, perhaps we'll come to that when we think about it for a while," I supply simply trying to hide my frown.

"Alright, that sounds… fine."

"Rose!" I hear from behind me. I close my eyes and slightly tense and squeeze Ulrich's hand. "Yes William?" I ask the voice behind me.

"I'm just gonna, go," Ulrich says slightly pained and William wraps an arm around my shoulders. I look at William and blink. "Earlier?" I ask confused.

"You kissed me," he says simply. "And it was rather nice."

"William, are you feeling alright? I didn't kiss anyone," I say looking at Ulrich. "I've been with Ulrich almost all day."

Ulrich catches the hint and smiles at me. "Yes, we've been together. I don't know why you think she'd kiss you," he says smiling. William unwraps his arm from about my shoulders and looks at Ulrich and I. Ulrich then wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me close to him. I smile at this action, hiding my confusion and trying to hide the blush that was creeping up my face.

"Oh, well… I'll see you around then," William says looking at Ulrich with a look of competition in his eyes.

"See ya," Ulrich says smirking. William walks away and Ulrich releases me blushing brightly. I look at the ground blushing and then feel his hand on my chin lifting my face up to look at him. He leans in and kisses me on the forehead causing me to blush brighter. He smiles at me and says, "I should get going."

I nod, unable to say a word and point over my shoulder trying to convey that I should go too. I turn around and quickly walk towards my room. _Ulrich kissed me on the forehead and was slightly jealous when I was "with" William! Squee!_ I smile and walk into my room and lay on my bed. I look at the ceiling not being able to wipe the grin from my face and think what he thinks about what just happened.


	29. 29

Ulrich's POV

So, she just made William think he was insane. Rose didn't go with him and she admitted that she was upset when the clone "me" kissed Sissy. She _Does_ feel something like I do for her. And why in the world didn't I ask her out then? She asked "What would you like to do?" and I just said… "I don't know." God I AM a moron! I had the perfect opportunity and I blew it! That was the Opportune Moment and I let it slip away and it won't come back around easily. What if after that, she does go to William now? I sigh and walk back to my room thinking of what I could do for her to bring her back and so I could ask her out.

I walk into my room and lay on my bed looking up at the ceiling planning my options. Odd walks into the room and looks at me. "So, what in all happened?" He asks me, playing with Kiwi.

"Well we talked, straightens things out, William came around and Rose made him think he was insane, and then I came here," I explain simply, leaving out a few personal things.

"That's all? You two aren't together now? Or what!" He asks begging for information.

I smile and look at him, "You won't know until you open your eyes and look."

"HEY!" He says stunned. I shrug and lay back in my bed looking at the ceiling thinking of what I could do for her to show her the truth, and that I had thought about what I wanted to do.

"Hey Odd, hypothetically, if you were me… what would you do for Rose?" I ask him looking at the ceiling.

"Well, I'd step outside of your little comfort box and do something out of the ordinary," He says happily.

"You're poking fun at me," I say rolling onto my side and looking at him.

"Maybe… But seriously. Be the person you never thought you'd be," He says curling up under the blankets.

"Thanks Odd," I say rolling back over and closing my eyes. A plan formulates in my head and lucky for me, no class tomorrow so I could have Rose the entire day.


	30. 30

Rose's POV

I wake up in the morning and look around. I find a note on my bedside table asking me to meet Angel at the front gate of the school when I woke up and got ready. I bolt out of bed and get my shower and then get dressed. I run to the front gate of the school in time to see Odd hugging Angel.

"Rose! You made it!" Angel says smiling. I run to her and ask, "What's going on?"

"Well, I'm transferring to another school. I can't take the XANA stuff and I'm heading to Italy. I'll see Odd on vacations and such so it's all worked out. Thanks for being such an awesome friend to me Rose," she says with tears in her eyes.

"Angel… I'm going to miss you," I say hugging her tightly. She returns the embrace and sniffles. "I'm going to miss you Rose. I hope you get your memory back and that computer gets shut down," She says releasing me.

"Thanks Angie. I'll write you!"

"Bye Rose! Bye Odd!" She says as she gets into the car taking her to the airport. I look at Odd and he looks at me. "You OK?" I ask him.

"Yes and No. I'm just glad she's doing something that makes her happy," he says watching the car drive away.

"Same here," I say frowning.

"Well, want to get breakfast?" He asks looking at me.

"You always think about food don't you?" I say giggling.

"Yes… I do. I'm Italian!" He replies laughing. We walk to the cafeteria and both of us had lost what little joy we had. Our friend was gone. His girlfriend and someone I thought of as my sister. We grabbed our breakfasts and sat down at the table with Jeremy and Aelita.

"You two don't look so good," Jeremy observes looking at us.

"Angel left," Odd says sadly.

"She didn't want to deal with the XANA pressure any more. So she transferred to Italy. Lucky for her, she's virus free. XANA never needed to put one in her," I say somberly, eating my breakfast.

Jeremy looks at us and says, "I'm sorry you two."

Odd shrugs and looks around, "It's ok I guess. She'll be happier away from all of this."

"Odd's right," I say quietly. I finish my breakfast and get up to throw my trash away. After ridding myself of the garbage I walk back to my room and lay in my bed. After a while I hear a knock at my door, and wondering who it could be, stand up and open it. To my surprise I open the door and find Ulrich standing there.

"Hey Rose, You alright? I heard about Angel," He says shyly looking at the floor and holding something behind his back.

"Yeah, I'm doing alright. Come in, but keep the door kinda open so Jim doesn't freak on us. I don't want to hear one of his stupid lectures on how he was a police officer and had to break up tons of people when parties got out of hand, or some foolish story like that," I say walking into my room and sitting on my bed. Ulrich walks in and closes the door slightly, then sits beside me on my bed.

"This is for you," He says, holding out a single long stemmed rose. The bloom is my favorite in the world! A coral base that turned to yellow with bright pink tips of the petals. I look at Ulrich and smile brightly. "Thank you. This is gorgeous!" I say to him. He blushes a bit and I impulsively kiss his cheek. This causes him to blush brighter and he says quietly, "You're welcome."

I smile and move closer to him, leaning my head on his shoulder. "Thank you for coming to see me. I don't know who I'd rather be with right now," I say sadly.

"Well, I'll be there whenever you need someone," he says shyly.

"Thank you," I say moving to kiss his cheek again. He turns his head slightly to look at me and I end up kissing the very corner of his mouth. Both of us blush brightly and look away from one another. I smell the rose he gave me and he looks at the posters on my wall.

"S-so… t-the end of the year dance if c-coming up in a couple months," He says, nervously putting a hand behind his head.

"Yes, I know. We have that showcase first though," I reply simply.

"Yeah, you should sing or something," he says quickly.

"Oh, I don't know," I say quietly. "But about the dance?"

"Oh… Umm… I was… eer," He flounders trying to get his thoughts together. I smile and look at him. "You can tell me," I say quietly.

"I was… wondering if… I don't know," He says looking at me, to the ground. He quickly and quietly finishes his question looking at the floor.

"I didn't hear that," I say frowning. He looks up and closes his eyes quickly saying, "I was wondering if you'd like to go with me?"

I blink and smile as he slightly opens one eye to look at me. "Of course I'll go with you to the dance! Why wouldn't I?" I reply giggling a bit. _Did I just giggle? Oh dear, this is new._

Ulrich opens his eyes completely and looks at me in shock. "You will?"

"Of course! Why wouldn't I? You said yourself you're not dating Yumi, and I don't have any one to go with. You're the first person to ask me, and you gave me my favorite rose! Not to mention you're the first person who was nice to me. I'd be honored to go as your date," I explain smiling. "And it saves you from Sissy."

He chuckles and says, "That it does. I have something I want to show you too."

"You do?" I ask confused.

"Yes, come on!" He takes my hand, stands up, and gently pulls me out of the room. I follow him with my rose still in hand very confused about where we were going.


	31. 31

We walk to the forest and through it, walking to a clearing where, on the ground a laptop was laid out beneath a large tree, roses around, and the feeling of need for approval.

"It's alright, right?" Ulrich says shyly. I smile broadly and look at Ulrich. "This is amazing. It's something I always wanted to do. It's cliché but… I always wanted to do this with someone special," I say as a blush creeps up my face. He smiles and walks to the stereo turning it on and it plays music. Music that was very familiar, because it was my favorite song. "How did you know?" I ask smiling brightly.

"Angel's been telling me things," He says simply.

"I like it Ulrich. I really do," I smile as he walks to me and says, "I have something else to ask you."

"Ask away," I say, holding my rose to my face and smelling the scent of the bloom. He blushes lightly and asks, "Will you do something with me?"

"Of course. What would you like to do?" I question in reply.

"Something I wouldn't do with someone else. But I trust you enough to not laugh at me," he says quietly.

"Ulrich… Why on earth would I laugh at you?"

"Because… I'd like to," he starts blushing more. He finally exhales, closes his eyes and says, "It's a surprise." He pulls me and to him in the frame I first met him in outside of Lyoko. The music plays and he starts dancing with me. I let him move me about the clearing smiling and spinning when he tells me to. As the song ends he stops and holds me close to him. Each of us have a blush on our faces from the closeness to one another. I blink and look into Ulrich's dark eyes and we both start to lean into one another as a voice rings out, "Ulrich!"

Ulrich snarls and growls recognizing the voice to be none other than Sissy Delmas. The most Hated girl in school! I turn away from Ulrich, walk towards the tree line, and look at the ground. Using my compact mirror I watch the scene from over my shoulder.

"Ulrich dear!" Sissy says walking up to our clearing. "There you are!"

"What do you want Sissy?" he asks stiffly.

"I wanted to spend some time with you!" She says resting a hand on his chest. He steps away from her and says, "Sissy, I'm already spending time with someone. And we're discussing things that don't interest you."

"Like what?" she asks, looking at me with daggers in her eyes.

"Like good music, dancing, travel, soccer, sports… stuff like that," he replies coldly.

"I like all those things," she says stepping up to him.

"Sissy, you wouldn't know a soccer ball from a basket ball if they both hit you in the face." Sissy steps back stunned. "Ulrich, but what about the other day? You kissed me after all," She says absently.

"Now… I'm going to finish my day with Rose so go back to your lifeless cronies. And why would I kiss you? If I wanted to kiss something as ugly as a dog I'd kiss Kiwi," He says tensely. Sissy scoffs, makes a sound like she's upset, and walks away. I close my mirror and smell my rose that I hadn't let go of feeling the heat of tears burning behind my eyes. She had brought up the one thing that would hurt me more than anything. I then feel arms wrap around my waist and pull me close. A deep blush rises on my cheeks and he whispers in my ear, "Now do you know that I can do this, without XANA's control?"

That there made my heart melt. This, this scene was what I always wanted; someone special coming up behind me, holding me close, and saying something sweet in my ear. _How did he know this?_ This scene would get me to do almost anything and melt any barriers I had in place. The one that would get me to do anything asked would be to have him sing a special song to me while holding me like this.

"Too much?" he whispers to me. I shake my head, unable to speak. He turns me around using my hips to turn me to face him. "You alright Rose?"

"I'm f-fine," I say as the blush deepens on my face. He blushes a bit and leans his forehead against mine. I close my eyes and enjoy the silence between us. Nothing but us, and in his embrace, I feel safe, warm, wanted, and like I belong.

"Well, what now?" He asks me.

"Can we sit?" I ask. "I just want to spend time with you."

"Alright, I brought a Frisbee, so you could try teaching me again," He says smiling and leading me under the large tree. He sits against the tree and I move to sit next to him, only to have him move me to sit between his spread legs and lean back against his chest. I blink and blush confused by his actions. This side of him wasn't something I would have ever guessed. But, I'm glad I see this side. It's what I wanted, what I pictured when I thought of someone being in my life. I close my eyes and lean back, relaxing on Ulrich's chest.


	32. 32

After a few minutes of just us sitting together listening to the music, I feel something placed on my lap. I open my eyes and there on my lap sits the sketchbook I had "Lost".

"Sorry it took so long to get back to you," Ulrich says quietly.

"It's alright. It's back now and that's all that matters. Did you like them?" I ask, picking the book up and holding it to my chest.

"They were all great," He says smiling. "Didn't find a single one I didn't like."

"You're just getting brownie points," I reply laughing. He laughs with me and says, "Not really. I like the sketches. They're great. And now I kinda want to know why you went viral."

"Huh?" I say, genuinely confused.

"Your singing is wonderful. I thought it might have been a little different from the recording, but I wouldn't mind hearing it," he says simply.

"Oh, Thank you." A blush creeps up my face as I realize he's listened to the video.

"Are you going to sing for the showcase?" He asks, wrapping his arms around my torso.

"Maybe, I don't know. Are you going to do anything?" I ask in return.

"Jim has been trying to get people to do something but… he's failing at it. If he doesn't get a couple more people, it's going to not happen."

"That doesn't answer my question Ulrich. I asked if you were doing something. You could show your martial arts," I supply looking at the roses Ulrich had given me.

"I could do something with you," he says quietly, messing with a curl from my ponytail. I blush brighter and he continues, "The others have actually asked me to do something with a partner, and I think they're hoping it'll be someone new."

"N-new?" I ask, confused by the usage.

"Yeah, someone I haven't done anything with before. I've done martial arts with Yumi, but, no one has seen me do something outside of class with you," he explains still playing with my hair.

"You could. But what would we do?"

"Sing a song, perform a dance, I don't know. I'm not good with this kind of thing."

"How about we just do one of those things for our friends? No one else needs to know that side of you yet," I offer smiling.

"I like that idea. That'll work great," He says happily.

"So we have a plan," I state gaily.

"Yes we do. Will you sing for me?" I look at him over my shoulder and smile.

"Alright. I will," I say and Ulrich grabs the laptop beside him and hands it to me. I start typing and find the music I wanted. I play the instrumental track and start singing, "Take the wave now and know that you're free. Turn your back on the land face the sea. Face the wind now so wild and so strong, when you think of me wave to me and send me a song." I continue singing until the song ends.

"Wow. I now completely understand why you went viral. Your voice is amazing," He says quietly. I blush and smile saying, "Thank you."

"Now, what should we do?" He asks me, holding me close.

"How about I teach you to throw Warrior Boy?"

"Sounds good," He replies laughing. I chuckle and stand up as he does the same. He grabs the Frisbee and says, "Teach me."

"Alright, you remember the last time?" He nods and looks at me. I smile and start teaching him how to throw the Frisbee like he would my chakram in Lyoko.

After a few tries he throws the Frisbee and it comes back to him. He catches it and stands there stunned. I smile and say, "You did it."

"I did. Wow," he says amazed. I smile and answer my phone as it rings. "What's up Aelita?"

"There's an activated tower! We need to go!" she says through the phone.

"Alright. I'll meet you there and bring Ulrich," I reply before hanging up. "Hey Warrior Boy. Ready to try it for real?"

"I guess we'll have to see if I can," he says, dropping the Frisbee, taking my hand, and running off. I smile and run with him to the manhole in the park.


	33. 33

We take the entrance to the tunnels and use our skateboards to get to the factory. We reach another ladder, climb up it, then run into the factory after using chains like vines, and swinging to the ground. We were the first there and we wait for Jeremy, Odd, Yumi, and Aelita to show up in the computer room.

After waiting a while we see the elevator doors open revealing Jeremy stepping towards us. Ulrich and I trade places with Jeremy and the elevator moves down to the scanner room. Jeremy's voice resounds through the room, "I'm virtualizing the guys first then Yumi, Aelita, and Rose will meet you there got it?"

"Got it Einstein!" Odd says stepping into a scanner. Ulrich steps into another of the three and the doors close sealing the tube. The doors open after a time revealing the scanners to be empty. Yumi, Aelita, and I each step into one of the scanners and wait for that familiar wind and then the drop through the floor feelings. When we open our eyes, we look around and see the white world of the ice sector. There beside us are Ulrich in his yellow and black samurai outfit and Odd in his purple cat suit. Our normal Lyoko attire besides mine. Mine had been a black long skirt with a slit up the side, a black undershirt, and red corset but now everything black changed to coral and the corset changed to turquoise. I smile at the original colors and look around.

"Where's the tower Jeremy?" Yumi asks.

"North East of your position!" Jeremy says calmly. We all head off to the North East and see a blockade in the way. Odd stops and gets in front of Aelita. Yumi pulls out her fans as Ulrich readies his katana. I retrieve my chakram from my hip and hold it ready to slice the monsters in half. Three krabs, four hornets, two bloks, and a Megatank wait for us on a bridge.

"Who's getting what?" I ask looking at the monsters ahead of us.

"I'll take the bloks," Odd says readying his laser arrows.

"I'll take the Megatank," Yumi replies.

"I've got the hornets," Ulrich says holding his katana and smirking a bit.

"Leaving me with the krabs. Yes! Whoever gets done first gets Aelita to the tower!" I state.

"Aelita, go hide but stay kind of in sight for us," Yumi says as Odd and Ulrich start with their monsters. Aelita nods and runs off as I start on the three krabs. I cartwheel to the side avoiding the laser beams and moving out of the way. Upon standing upright I throw my chakram, slicing a krab right down the center, splitting it in half. The krab explodes and one of the others takes its place starting forward at me as I catch my returning chakram. I run at it, do a handspring, and land on top of the krab. It tries to get me off but I throw my chakram down into the Eye of XANA on its shell. Before it explodes I jump from the krab only to be hit by the final krab.

"Ouch! You stupid crustacean mockery!" I yell throwing my chakram at the krab. It explodes and I catch the disc on its return. I look around and see Odd taking Aelita towards the tower seeing as he finished his monsters first. Yumi and the Megatank were gone, my guess was that the Megatank devirtualized Yumi but her fan killed it as well. Ulrich still had a couple hornets to go and I knew what I could do. I throw my chakram at the group of hornets that dodge the metal disc and say, "Time for the real thing Warrior Boy!"

He catches the chakram as I had taught him by putting his hand through the opening in the middle. He holds it by the rim and looks at me, "Really?"

"Yes! You can do it! I know you can!" I reply encouragingly. He nods and looks at the group of hornets. He toys with them a bit, trying to fake them out and finally he gets the hornets lined up and throws the chakram, killing all of the hornets in the line. I smile and run towards the flying object and handspring the last stretch, grounding the chakram with my foot as it slides into the opening, catches on my ankle then falls down to the ground as my feet hit the ice. Smiling broadly I bend down and pick up the chakram, replacing it on my hip.

"So that's how you use that thing. It's awesome!" Ulrich says running up beside me.

"I know. Why do you think I love using it? It kills anything if you throw it hard enough," I reply cheekily.

"Oh really?" He asks striding up to me. I smirk at him and say, "Of course. Why do you think I only threw it lightly to you when we were fighting against one another?"

"Very true. I can understand that," He says smiling and looking slightly down at me. I look up into his eyes and smile, blushing lightly.

"Alright you guys, Aelita deactivated the tower. I'm bringing you all out now," Jeremy says. I sigh and feel the familiar feeling of falling onto the ground. I lean against the side of the scanner feeling kinda of tired. I step out of the scanner and then Jeremy's voice rings out in the room. "Do I return to the past?"

"Nothing major bad happened right?" Odd asks looking around.

"Not really," Jeremy replies.

"So let's leave it alone," Ulrich says simply.

"I agree," I state walking towards the elevator.

"Same here. Why go back when we don't need to?" Aelita says walking beside me. Odd and Ulrich follow and we head up to the super computer room to pick up Jeremy and Yumi. As the door opens Jeremy and Yumi step inside and we head back up to the ground floor of the factory. We head back up to the bridge and start walking back to the school.

Ulrich walks beside me and pulls me away from the group as we near where we were earlier. I smile and walk with him back to our clearing and lay down in the sunny spot on the grass Ulrich lays next to me and we look up at the clouds. "Rose," He says quietly.

"Yes?"

"When is your birthday?" he asks randomly.

"June 28th. I don't really remember the year," I reply kind of sadly. Ulrich moves a bit closer to me and rest on his side to look at me. "I'm sorry I made you sad," He says, finding a lock of my hair and playing with it.

"It's fine. I understand," I reply smiling. I turn my head and see him twirling a strawberry lock of my hair. "So, you found the pink. Yes, it's rather weird.

"Not really, I like it. Oh! So I found out from hearing someone," Ulrich says, still fiddling with the pink strands in his hand.

"What?" I ask him.

"Well, since the showcase is going on, they're thinking of doing one at the beginning of the school year next year," he explains messing with the pink and brown strands of hair.

"Oh, hmm. Well then I'll have the summer to prepare something. Good!" I reply looking back up at the clouds. We lie together and look at the clouds until the sun starts to set. "We should head inside don't you think?" I ask looking at him.

"Yes. We should," he replies, standing up. He grabs my hands and pulls me up and to him. He wraps his arms around my waist and we both blush. I step back and look at the ground blushing brightly. I look back up at him moving part of the curtain of hair between us behind my ear. He moves the other side behind my ear and rests a hand on my cheek. I close my eyes and lean my face slightly into his hand. He pulls me close and before I can register I'm moving towards him, I feel his forehead leaning against mine.

"I don't want to leave. Leaving here means accepting things that I don't want to. Here, things are simple," He says quietly.

"Ulrich, what do you mean?" I ask just as quietly.

"I mean, the only things I have to worry about here are you and me, when we leave, we have to worry about our friends, school, everything else. Here things are simpler."

"True, but without our friends, you and I wouldn't be here. Everything will be simple. I promise," I say smiling. He looks into my eyes and smiles. "Alright. Let's go," he says smiling. He grabs the extra things as I grab my roses and we walk back to the school.

Upon reaching the school grounds we start to head to our rooms when a voice behind us hinders us from going anywhere. "Hey Rose!"

I sigh and look at Ulrich thinking, _He's to dang persistent!_ "Yes William?"

"I was wondering if maybe you'd go to the dance with me? I mean, you and me together would make one awesome pair right?" He says giving me that player's grin of his. I hear Ulrich set the things in his hands down in the ground and feel him stand right behind me.

"Well? How about it?" William asks, stepping towards me, closing the slight gap there was between us.

"I woul-" I start but get cut off by Ulrich's arms pulling me back into him. "Sorry William, Ulrich got me first. He asked me earlier today," I say cutsily to him.

"You and… Stern? Does he even dance?"

"Better than you I bet," Ulrich chimes in simply. I smile and kiss his cheek making his blush grow a bit.

"Well, I hope you have fun then," William says stunned. He turns around and walks away. I start to move away from Ulrich who only pulls me back and quickly gets in front of me. Before I have any time to react I feel my back against the wall of the building and Ulrich's lips on my own. I know a bright blush is creeping up my face but I don't care. I rest my hands on Ulrich's chest, close my eyes, and kiss him back not giving a thought about anyone who sees us. When Ulrich pulls back I see a blush on his face and smile. "Sorry, but… I-I had to. The whole thought and then action thing and all," he explains.

"I didn't say you had to explain anything Ulrich," I say leaning close to him.

"It's just, each time we had the perfect moment, something interfered. So-" I quickly place a finger to his lips and smile. "You don't have to explain. But in any case why no-" It was my turn to be interrupted, but not by a finger on my lips. He cut me off by crashing his lips onto mine and sending emotions through me I never thought I'd feel, thinking you'd need to be a priss to feel them. My knees start to go weak, one foot even feels like it's going to "pop", and my heart races in my chest. He pulls back and smirking at me says, "You talk to much."

"Oh hush," I say, trying to hide my prissy feelings. He smiles, lightly kisses me, and says, "I might have a hard time now, keeping this quiet in the group."

"Why?"

"Well, Roses have thorns, and I just got stuck on another one," he admits smiling. I blush and look at the ground. "You're adorable when you blush."

This makes me blush even more and I smile. "Thank you. But I s-should be h-heading to my room. I-I'll see you tomorrow," I say quickly. I grab my flowers and head to my room, running once out of Ulrich's line of sight. I run into my room, put the flowers in a vase of water, change into my pajamas, and lay on my bed thinking; _Oh shiny tomato. Ulrich just kissed me. I kissed Ulrich. Ulrich and I kissed… not just once. I am officially crushing sheep mode. What am I going to do! Sissy like him, Yumi likes him. I am a crushing sheep on the Chick Magnet of Kadic Academy. _


	34. 34

I wake up and right beside me are the flowers I had received. I smile broadly and remember what happened, attaining a light blush on my face. _It wasn't a dream. It really wasn't. But what does this mean? Are we together? Do I brush it off? I don't know!_ I get up and get dressed trying to push the thoughts from my mind. I walk to the cafeteria, grab my breakfast, and sit at the table trying to collect my thoughts from being scattered all over the place and working out how Ulrich and I would act after what happened.

I eat my breakfast and hear someone sit beside me and see it's William. "Hey Rose, you want to catch a movie later?"

"I've got a project to do for class," I fabricate. There's a part of me that wants to go with him, but I feel bad about this.

"Why don't we work on our projects together? I know we're not in the same class, but maybe we can help each other," he counters.

"William, I'd like to, but I don't think it would be wise," I say quietly. He takes my hand and looks me in the eyes. "Rose, what's wrong?"

"I just, I'm not sure about you," I reply, blushing lightly.

"What do you mean?" He asks confused.

"I-I mean, you have all the girls fawning over you-"

"So does your friend Ulrich," he interjects trying to dispel notions.

"But he doesn't lead them all on. You kinda do. You're not the kind of guy that stays with one girl. You flit from one to the other," I state quietly.

"So, you think I'm a player?" he says in a tone seeming to be a hurt, sad, offended, and almost angry cross.

"K-Kinda…" I stammer, not knowing what to really say and feeling a blush rise on my face.

"What could I have done to make you think that?"

"Well, I see you flirting with other girls. Most notably Yumi," I state. "You seemed very offended when she "kissed" Mathias."

"True. I guess I kinda was. But Maybe I'm just flirting with other girls to get one specific one jealous," he says looking at me and placing a couple of fingers on my chin, turning my face towards him. I blush and look into his eyes. Something about him made me feel happy. Not as happy as I was with Ulrich yesterday, but close. I feel him lean into me and I lean backwards confused. "Rose, what's wrong?"

"I don't know what you're doing. And I'm uncomfortable with what was happening," I explain simply.

"Why? Never been kissed?" He asks smiling slightly.

"That's not it, William, I just don't want to be more than friends," I say standing up.

"We're friends?" He asks looking at me.

"If you lay off the major advances," I reply walking away. I get rid of my trash and walk to class thinking about Ulrich and William.

William's POV

She just said we would be friends. Hmm. I can't help but like her. She's the only girl who hasn't fallen head over heels for me and is making it challenging. She's beautiful and intelligent, one of a kind. Now, how to get her to be mine?

I finish my breakfast and walk to class. I meet up with Yumi and we start talking about our assignments. "Gotten any work done on your project?" I ask her smiling.

"A bit, my little brother's been annoying me though," she replies hiding her tiredness.

"Oh really? Well you could always stay with me and we'll work on it in the library," I offer.

"Thanks William but I have to babysit my brother. Hence why he's so annoying," her she responds looking into her book as class begins. All throughout class I try to devise a subtle plan to see if I can take Rose's affections from whoever they're on and bring them to me. Would there be any way? Maybe not… But I can try can't I?


	35. 35

Rose's POV

I sit through the classes and smile as they end. Walking through the campus after classes end I think about Ulrich and me last night. I attain a light blush on my face and smile remembering it. I lean against a wall with my left foot on the wall, making my knee bend and I rest my hand on my thigh. I close my eyes and stand there for a while. I then feel a presence in front of me and open my eyes to see not one person, but two. I smile at Milly and Tamyia and ask, "Can I help you?"

"We're getting interviews from the performers in the showcase. Can we ask you a few questions?" Milly asks hopefully.

"I didn't know I signed up," I reply confused.

"Well your name is on the signup sheet. And to be honest, we've wanted to interview you for a while. After all, you went viral. Are you going to sing?" Tamyia asks, holding onto the camera.

"I might sing. I don't know what I'll do yet," I reply shrugging my shoulders.

"Well you're the likely contestant in the showcase to beat Sissy," Milly observes. "If you can beat her at her own game I think she'll be out for the count."

"Well thank you for that. I'll do my best because someone needs to give that girl a dose of reality and slow down the growth of that ego," I say chuckling. Milly and Tamyia laugh with me and Tamyia asks, "So have you grown to like this school?"

"Of course! Everyone here, minus three people, has been really nice to me. They don't really care that I'm semi-famous. It's nice to find a place where people don't try to shine up to you to gain favors."

"Well, can I tell you a secret?" Milly asks looking at me and shuffling her feet slightly.

"Sure," I say wondering what the secret is.

"Well, it doesn't deal with you being famous, it deals with the school, you and a few people," she says shyly.

"Alright, What is it?" I ask, now really wanting to know.

"I've heard that there are some people who are hoping you go out with Ulrich so that Yumi and Sissy don't get him. Then there are others who are hoping that you go out with William because they think you two fit better. But then the ones who want you to go out with either one because they're both bad boys and you'd be good with either one of them. You're the girl no one really messes with because you're so nice and you can be harsh if people mess with people you care about," Milly explains quickly. Tamyia jumps in and quickly finishes where Milly left off saying, "And you're kinda like the bad girl to go with their bad-boy type. But you're not really a "bad girl" you're more like a "Bad lady" with your manners and personality being really sweet and such but mean when people are rude and snotty. We don't mean to make you upset if we did."

I look at the two girls, take in what they said and smile. "Girls, I'm not upset. I'm flattered and a little unnerved. But anyway, I think it's funny people are showing who they think I should be with," I say chuckling.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I figured it had to start eventually. After all, you said earlier, viral singer shows up at a school rumors have to start somewhere."

"True, well that's all the questions I have right now. Thanks for the interview," Milly says smiling brightly.

"Yeah thanks!" Tamyia chimes in.

"Any time you girls want one you come ask," I say to them. Their eyes light up and in unison they reply, "Thank you Rose!" With that they walk off and I lean back against the wall smiling. Suddenly an idea for a piece of music runs through my head. I head to the music classroom and look around for sheet music.

Looking through stacks of paper I finally find a few sheets and hear from behind me, "What are you looking for?"

"I'm sorry sir, I was looking for some sheet music to compose on," I explain blushing a bit from being called out.

"Oh, you're writing music?" the teacher asks me.

"Yes I am sir," I reply quietly. "Then please, take as much as you like. If you need help, let me know and I'll gladly listen to it and help," He says sitting at his desk. I smile and nod. "Thank you," I say, taking a few sheets and walking out of the room. I head to my dorm room and smile, sitting at my desk starting to compose my music, letting things I felt flow through me into the pen and onto the paper. Things about someone special, and the pain of not knowing who I really am. I want my memory, and I'll do whatever it takes to get it! I write the lyrics beneath the notes after finishing the music. I look outside and see it beginning to get dark. I quickly head back to the music room finding the teacher still sitting there.

"Are you working on it?" He asks smiling at me.

"I've finished it. I'd actually like to play it through if you don't mind," I say smiling. He smiles and nods, "Of course. Mind if I stay with you?"

"Not at all. I'd like your input on it," I say sitting at the upright piano in the room. I put the score on the piano and start playing it. The beginning is a nice piano opening. I look around and see what I wanted, electric keyboards. I stand up and walk over to them bringing the sheet music with me. I start playing the piano line on the electric keyboards and switch them to a synthesizer mode and continue playing while singing the lyrics I had created. The song goes back to a piano closing and as the last note rings out in the room I hear nothing but pin drop silence.

"Brava," the teacher says after a moment of silence. I smile at him, "So you think it was good?"

"I'd buy that track if it came out," He says chuckling a bit. "Do you have anything else?" I nod and reply, "Yes. But one of them is going to be done for the showcase."

"Then I can't wait to hear you," he says smiling. "What is that one called?"

I think for a moment and smile as the perfect title comes to mind, "Be My Bad Boy".

"Sounds like a good title," he says nodding. "Well thank you for listening," I say walking out of the music room. I walk back to my room humming my song when I collide with someone. I look up and see it's William.


	36. 36

"Are you alright?" He asks looking me over.

"Yes. I'm fine," I reply.

"Sorry. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going," he says smiling that charmer smile of his.

"You're fine. I promise," I state simply. I then feel a hand on my shoulder and look to see Ulrich there.

"Problem here Rose?" He asks, glaring at William.

"Nope, not a single problem. William was helping me gather my books after we ran into each other," I explain, only half lying.

"Yeah Ulrich, ease up. She's not a piece of property or meat that needs to be watched over," William states looking at Ulrich.

"No she isn't. She's much better than that. But she's my friend and I take care of my friends," Ulrich says holding me close to him.

"Well then, maybe one day we might become friends, because I do the same. See you Belle," He says walking on by. I smile at Ulrich and he kisses my cheek.

"I'm fine on my own you know," I say smiling brightly.

"I know you are, but I don't trust him. Especially not with the most beautiful girl on campus," he says quietly. I blush a bit and smile at him. "Well thank you."

"There's nothing to thank me for when it's the truth," He says to me. I hug him tightly and breathe in his scent. The spicy scents of cinnamon and sandalwood mixed with the earthy smell of the forest and amber consume my senses and make me smile. "We should head to the cafeteria," I say smiling.

"Yeah, we should," he replies. I let go of him and we both start walking to the cafeteria. I look around feeling a pair of eyes on me, not knowing to whom they belong, but knowing that I wasn't just in the line of sight… I was a target for daggers.

Yumi's POV

Ulrich and Rose? Together? So THAT'S why he didn't want to go out with me. He's going out with the little cyber girl we found. She was his enemy and now he's dating her? Are they dating? They just hugged after all. Friends hug each other. I shake my head and walk back home thinking all the while of what Rose has that I don't. I have memories, she doesn't; maybe he's feeling something for her because she's vulnerable and needs protection because of it. Maybe it just because she's famous that he's staying with her. I've been here for him a lot longer than that girl. She's really nice and I liked her a lot more when I didn't think Ulrich liked her. As soon as I walk through the door my little brother starts bombarding me with questions, "Why are you home so late? Were you with Ulrich?"

"No Hiroki! I was studying," I explain, walking up the stairs to my room.

"Studying how to get Ulrich to admit he likes you, or you to admit you like him? Oh oh! I know! You were studying how to get him to be our boyfriend!"

"Hiroki! Shut your mouth! You don't know what you're talking about!" I yell down the stairs. I lay in my bed and look at the ceiling. I really like Ulrich, but at the same time, William has shown up and is now vying for my attentions, along with Rose's. Why are we stuck in this square! Rose and I are completely different! Right? Maybe. I sigh and roll onto my side, thinking of how I could work through this square of affection with Ulrich and William liking Rose and I.


	37. 37

Rose's POV

I sigh and look around outside. Why are things so weird? Why can't William take a HINT! I mean really? I walk into the cafeteria, grab my breakfast and smile sitting next to Ulrich.

"XANA's been really quiet lately," Odd says through a mouthful of something or other… maybe his whole breakfast.

"He has been. And I don't understand why," Jeremy says, as he types on his laptop.

"Well he doesn't have a reason to. We've been foiling everything he puts at us, especially when it comes to the scyphozoa," Ulrich states plainly.

"Yeah, we have been," I say smiling.

"So, what does he want with those two?" Odd asks looking at Aelita and me.

"No clue Odd. But I'm trying to work on the anti-virus for these two," Jeremy states motioning to Aelita and me.

"How's it coming?" Aelita asks.

"It's coming… but not fast enough."

I sigh and eat my green apple looking out the window. I feel a hand on my upper arm and look over at Ulrich smiling.

"We should get to class," he says standing up. I follow suit and we get rid of our trash. Ulrich walks me to class and I sit in my desk and Ulrich sits behind me. I turn around and talk with him until class begins and I notice the lights starting to flicker. The teacher looks up at the lights and then they go out with a loud POP! We all duck under our desks to avoid the falling glass and Jeremy gets a ding on his phone.

"XANA!" Jeremy whispers urgently. I nod and look around the room seeing if there was a way we could get out. If XANA wanted Aelita and I, then he'll let us through without harming us. I look at Aelita and motion for her to come over. She crawls under the desks to me and asks, "What do you have planned?"

"XANA won't hurt us. I'll take Ulrich and Odd, you get Jeremy out. He can't hurt them if they're with us without risking us getting hurt," I explain.

"Brilliant," She says. We stand up after getting out from beneath the desks and look at Jeremy, Odd, and Ulrich who look at us like we're insane. Aelita looks at Jeremy and says, "Come on. We have to stop XANA."

Jeremy stands up and blushes as Aelita grabs his arm and walks to the door. I look at Odd and Ulrich and say, "Well?"

Ulrich stands up and holds my hand letting me know that he's up for anything. We look at Odd who walks to the door and watches Aelita open the door and run out with Jeremy before a bolt of electricity could zap Jeremy.

"Well, here's goes everything," I say frowning.

"It won't work to get us all out. You two go, I'll stay here and keep you all posted," Odd says simply. Ulrich and I nod and follow Aelita and Jeremy out of the door. We bolt to the park catching up and to Aelita and Jeremy.

Upon our arrival to the factory Aelita, Ulrich, and I step into the scanners as Jeremy begins the process to send us in. "Transfer, Ulrich. Transfer, Aelita. Transfer, Rose. Scanner, Ulrich. Scanner, Aelita, Scanner Rose. Virtrualization!"

I look around the brown mountain sector and sigh. "Well, where to Jeremy?"

"Northwest of your position," Jeremy says to us urgently. "I'm programming your vehicles and you've got company. Three Bloks and a few kankralats heading your way."

"Thanks Jer!" Ulrich says readying his katana. I grab my chakram and hold it ready to throw at the oncoming monsters. Sure enough three bloks and about five kankralats round the bend and start firing at us. I throw my chakram at the kankralats killing three of them. Ulrich dodges an ice beam from one of the bloks and a fire ring from another. I grab my chakram and throw it at a blok making Ulrich's trek a bit easier.

"Thanks!" He says as he stabs a blok and I catch my chakram. I look around and see Aelita on the overboard heading towards the northwest. I throw my chakram at the final two kankralats and lurch forward from a laser hit from the blok that had gotten behind me. Ulrich throws his saber and the blok explodes at the metal blade lands in the middle of the eye of XANA. I straighten up and shake my head clearing the weird fuzziness.

"Rose, are you alright?" Ulrich asks me, resting his hands on my shoulders. I nod and look at him. "Let's go Warrior Boy."

He hops on the overbike and I climb on behind him. We race off after Aelita and I hold my chakram in my hand having a bad feeling that Aelita might be in trouble. _What did XANA want? I can see him wanting me back, but what about Aelita? _I think as we race through the mountainous terrain.

"Guys! A scyphozoa has Aelita!" Jeremy states to us as he panics.

"We're close by," I say in response.

"Rose, you take the overbike and get to the tower. How'd it get her though?" Ulrich says.

"I have no clue. But be careful," I warn. We speed along and finally see the Scyphozoa with Aelita draped in its tentacles and a pinkish-red light around Aelita. Ulrich jumps off the bike and I quickly slide forward, grab the controls and head towards the tower.

Dodging lasers from another creature I make my way towards the tower. I yell as the overbike disintegrates beneath me and I get launched into the air. I roll on the rocky ground and finally come to a stop. I look up and see hornets surrounding me. _Of course the flying insects are the ones to destroy the bike._ I stand up and throw my chakram at the group of hornets making a break for the tower that wasn't that far away. I gasp hearing the sound of the scyphozoa and make sure to dodge the cephalopod inspired monster. I skid to a stop seeing the monster in front of me. My eyes widen as I try to figure out an escape. There was none. I drop my chakram as I get lifted into the air, mesmerized by the creature in front of me.

It seems like ages before I collapse to the ground. I open my eyes and see pink, a color I was honestly confused to be seeing. "Aelita?"

"Yes, be careful Rose. We don't want to lose you," She says helping me stand.

"Alright, you'll explain to me how you saved me after we're out right?" I reply smiling.

"You bet," She says chuckling. She runs towards the tower and fades into the side. I smile knowing our job was more than halfway done. I look around and up on the mountain in front of me… a person stands there, dressed in a white dress with her long blonde hair waving in the slight breeze that was here on in this virtual world. There was something about this girl that seemed familiar, but for the life of me… I couldn't remember. Aelita walks out of the tower and stands next to me. "Ready to go?"

"Just a second…" I say distantly looking at the new figure here on Lyoko. Aelita looks and sees the girl as well but before we could do anything we depixilate and feel the familiar feeling of showing up on the floor of the scanner after being dropped a few yards.

As the doors to the cylindrical scanner open up I smile seeing a pacing Ulrich. He walks to me and looks me over. "You alright?"

"Of course I'm alright. What? Think I wouldn't be fine without my warrior?" I realize my statement and blush looking quickly at the ground. Arms encircle me and I blush brighter as my own arms encircle the person holding me.

"Well, Einstein's launching a return to the past," Ulrich states not letting go of me.

"Alright," I reply and a white light engulfs us all, sending us back to the beginning of the day.


	38. 38

_**A/N: May... I Haven't stopped writing. I promise... I just don't have much time so it's being put on hold. Also, I'm losing ideas for this story. Don't worry. And I will post a chapter letting people know my dilemma if I stop writing. Thank you for reading and I love hearing from you, All my readers. :)**_

Rose's POV

After a few weeks the day of the showcase comes up. Sissy had been snarkier than usual seeing that there were good competitors going against her in the showcase. At dress rehearsal for the showcase, she had made a few of the younger kids cry. I almost punched her, but knew it wouldn't be the wisest choice. Aelita sits in my room with me as I get ready for the show.

"Rose, do you remember your life before Lyoko?" she asks me quietly. I had known this question would be coming.

"Kind of. I can recognize my father in a picture, but not his name. I don't really remember much," I say, brushing my hair. I hear a rapid knocking at my door and Aelita opens it to reveal Jeremy looking a little overjoyed and out of breath. "You two have to come with me to the factory!" He says trying to catch his breath.

"Jeremy, I've got the showcase to do!" I say quickly.

"The showcase isn't for a few more hours. The others are already heading there!" He grabs Aelita's wrist and runs out of the room with her. I jump up and follow them towards the factory. As we reach the factory we head towards the elevator and see Yumi, Odd, and Ulrich waiting for us. We all step into the elevator and head to the computer. Jeremy sits in the chair and turns on the screen, and starts playing a video where a graying man with round glasses that obstruct his eyes. The man is Franz Hopper, and he talks about his daughters and other things about Lyoko.

"Aelita, Rose, I think from this… You two are sisters. And Franz Hopper, is your Dad," Jeremy states as the video ends. Aelita and I look from Jeremy and the computer screen to one another. "Do you two remember each other?"

Aelita looks at me and tilts her head. "I remember being called a nickname by someone."

"Lita?" I say quizzically. Aelita nods and says, "Rosie?"

"Yes. I remember being called that. And no one around here has done it."

"But those could be guesses. Rosabelle, Rosie; Aelita, Lita… Generic nicknames," Yumi interjects.

"True ,what do you remember?" I ask looking at Aelita.

"I remember someone helping me find Mr. Puck. I had lost him outside," she starts.

"And you were playing with him, and thought you had buried him. But when you looked outside, he was in a bucket," I finish. Aelita looks at me and nods.

"You can't fabricate that Yumi," Jeremy says smiling. "We found out a bit of your history!"

"Yes, you did," I say. "Well, thanks for this. I should be heading back." I walk out of the factory, confused by my feelings. I was angry, hurt, sad, and happy that I had this news. Angry because that means Dad did this to Aelita as well; hurt that he chose us to do this to like we're experiments; sad that there wasn't anything I could do to help her; and happy that I actually had family. I walk into my room and sit down in front of my mirror and apply a light layer of blush and other makeup. Looking in the mirror I see my hazel eyes more green from the turquoise and gold eye shadows. The black eyeliner and mascara make my eyes 'pop' and seem more noticeable. I apply a clear gloss to my lips that adds a bit of shine and turn to my closet. I grab a dress that I had bought when I went shopping with an agent from the record company a while back to talk about doing a CD and a couple concerts. The long dress has a turquoise cheetah print corset top and a flowing black skirt. The skirt was fitted to about the middle of my thigh and then flared out into a lot of material and pooled a bit around me on the floor as I slip the garment on. I hear a knock at my door and open it to see Milly, in tears. "What happened?" I ask quickly looking at the little redhead girl.

"S-Sissy's being meaner since today is the showcase. She said that Tamyia and I aren't going to become journalists because we're terrible at it. We don't write objectively apparently and we're making her out to be a mean self-centered person," Milly explains through tears.

"But she is. She just doesn't see it. You're writing the truth. Sometimes, people don't like the truth because that means that they have to understand that their life isn't perfect. That their reality isn't what other people see as reality. Sometimes, people don't want to know the truth about themselves because it means having to accept that they're different," I explain, putting some of my own feelings about what I had just learned about my father. Milly starts to smile a bit and she nods saying, "Thanks Rose."

"You're welcome. Can I ask for your help?" I ask smiling slightly.

"Sure, what do you need?" she replies wiping her eyes.

"I need help with my dress. Can you tighten it for me?" She nods and walks behind me. She clips the back, zips it up, and starts to tighten the laces from the corset top. She pulls again and asks, "This good enough?"

"Yes. I can still breathe but it feels comfortable," I reply putting a hand to my stomach. She ties up the laces and walks back in front of me. "You look very pretty," She says smiling widely.

"Thank you Milly." I stand up and slip on my shoes and look at myself in the mirror. My hair curls nicely around my lower back and the colors of my hair show nicely. The dark brown shows a few red and blonde highlights and a bit of the pink locks in the curls. Milly walks to my mirror and the table beneath it set up with my makeup and hair things. She picks up a hair piece and looks at it. "You should put this barrette in your hair," Milly says, turning back to me holding the gemmed comb in her hand. The aurora stones glitter on the comb and I take it from her, putting it in my hair next to my right ear. Milly smiles widely saying, "Now you look perfect."

"Thank you Milly. You should go on ahead and see if you can get a good seat or interview other performers. Maybe even some of the audience to see what they're excited to hear," I offer simply.

"Alright. Thanks again Rose!" She hugs me and walks out of the room. I look in the mirror again and smile. _If only mom and dad could see their little girls now._ I sigh, grab my folder for my music, and walk to the auditorium holding the folder to my chest. I listen to the music in my head as I walk and I walk through the doors to the auditorium to the back stage area the performers were to stay in while not performing. A few acts would be chosen to perform for the parents when they came to pick up their children for the beginning of break. I just hope I don't get nervous and choke during the performance.

"Well, look who it is?" The nasily voice tells me instantly I'd have to be dealing with the Demon Reject Barbie of Kadic.

"Oh, I don't know? Is it the monster or the princess?" I ask sarcastically.

"Ha ha very funny Rose," she says, probably crossing her arms and looking at me. I sigh, turn around and look at her. She was wearing a short dress that came about to her lower thigh and was a fitted bodice. She was trying to show her figure, but wasn't trying to do it tastefully. The low-cut halter bodice of the pink dress drew to much attention to a certain area and I knew she was wearing it for one person, Ulrich. "Look, I'll let you in on a secret," Sissy starts, walking towards me.

"Look, I don't know what you've heard Delmas, but I honestly don't care what you think about me, my job, my personality, or my life. My reason… you've got the personality of a primadonna that thinks she owns everything when you own nothing. You think your'e the beauty queen of the school but you look like something out of a horror clown movie and it makes Sasquatch and the monster from the black lagoon run and hide. You're to ignorant and thick to understand the things right in front of you about people and you don't give a damn about anyone but yourself you bloody moron."

She looks at me with daggers in her eyes and slowly says, "I hope you enjoy this you cretin. You'll never see this school again after this year."

"Cretin? Oh… lass, you don't even know what that is. And by using it so inappropriately, you've shown the world that it's not me who's the cretin, but you."

"I don't care if you're famous Rosabelle Sterling. You're just a crazy Freak!"She yells.

"And I don't care if you're the principal's daughter Elizabeth Delmas. You're a vapid whore," I reply calmly, smirking at her. She storms away and I smile and turn back around to see Milly and Tamyia standing there. "Hello girls. Did you get all that?"

"Yes we did!" They chorus grinning to their ears. I smile widely and say, "Now… did you get other interviews?"

"Yes we did," Tamyia says smiling.

"Can we show your group of friends?" Milly asks hopefully.

"If you want to, I don't care. Well you guys should go out into the auditorium." They nod and leave. I turn around and look out into the wings of the stage and sigh. Stage fright don't get to me now!


	39. 39

Aelita's POV

I walk to the auditorium thinking about what I had found out. Rose and I might be sisters. But our dad ruined our lives by putting us in that world. I walk to the auditorium and see Ulrich standing outside the doors looking a little… distressed? I walk up to him and ask, "You alright?"

He jumps slightly hearing me, turns to look at me and says, "Sure. Yeah I'm fine."

"What's got you off guard?" I ask him.

"Nothing," He says starting to blush. I look at him and cross my arms. "Sure Ulrich, nothing's bothering you. It's got nothing to do with Rose performing does it?" I ask him.

"No," he says quickly. I smile and say, "Ulrich, she's going to be fine."

"But, I feel like I should do something for her. She's probably nervous after what she learned," He says quietly relaxing slightly, something I hadn't seen him do much.

"Ulrich, don't worry. She's performed before. She's a natural at this. But you're going to hear something she wrote herself. She'll be fine and you could have gotten her flowers," I explain.

"I don't know," Ulrich replies.

"She's going to be fine. Relax, enjoy the music. And if you're worried about her and Sissy, she'll be fine. Rose has years of insults ready for her to use."

He laughs and says, "I'd never worry about her with Sissy. She's fine with that. I just-"

"Hey Aelita. Hey Ulrich," I hear Yumi's voice say behind me. Ulrich goes back to his normal state of tension and replies, "Hey Yumi."

"You guys ready for this?" She says looking at the door. Ulrich nods and I say, "Of course. It's going to be interesting."

"You can say that again," I hear Odd say as he walks up. Jeremy walks up behind him adjusting his glasses. I smile at Jeremy who smiles in return and says, "So shall we go in and sit down? It's going to start soon."

Ulrich opens the door and holds it as I walk through. "Thank you Ulrich," I say as I pass him. I walk into the auditorium and see Milly and Tamyia walking towards me. "Aelita! We have seats for you guys," Milly says smiling.

"Really?" Odd asks walking up behind me. Milly nods and motions for us to follow as she walks away. We walk behind her and sit down in the open chairs beside the two younger girls. Jeremy sits next to me, Odd next to him, then Yumi and Ulrich on the end. I look up at the stage and watch as the lights dim to darkness and the show begins. There are so many talents and people showing them. I listen and prepare myself mentally for the upcoming act, Sissy.

Sissy walks on the stage, takes the mic and starts singing. Her voice is pleasant, until she hits a higher note and screeches. The audience winces and continues listening waiting for it to end. It finally ends and everyone relaxes. A few more acts come on and we listen to them. I wait for my sister, it's nice to call someone that, to come on stage and sing for us all.


	40. 40

Rose's POV

After Sissy walks off she says, "Beat that freak." I smile and roll my eyes waiting for my cue. I see the piano being moved onto the stage and know that it was my turn and the ending of the show. I walk onto the stage, sit on the piano bench, spread out my music and take a breath calming myself down. I rest my fingers on the keys and begin to play. I wait for the piano introduction to end and then start singing, putting all the feelings I had into my music. "It's amazing how you can speak right to my heart. Without saying a word, you can light up the dark, Try as I may, I could never explain- What I hear when you don't say a thing." I let everything I feel into my music. These were things I feel about someone special. I would give Ulrich anything he wanted and would ask of me. I play and sing the music as it made me feel. "The smile on your face lets me know that you need me. There's a truth in your eyes sayin' you'll never leave me. The touch of your hand says you'll catch me if ever I fall. You say it best when you say nothing at all." The last notes ring through the auditorium followed by complete silence. The audience erupts into applause and I stand up to take my bow. The principal comes on the stage and stands beside me. "That is our own Ms. Sterling. Now for the ending I'd like for her to sing her song that made her famous," He says looking at me. "Will you?"

I nod and grab the microphone. Mr. Delmas moves off the stage and music begins to play. I smile and begin to sing, "Beneath the white fire of the moon, love's wings are broken all to soon. We never learn, hurt together hurt alone. Don't you sometimes wish your heart was a heart of stone? We turn the wheel and break the chain…" I continue singing and remembering something about this song. I finish my song and smile at the audience who had erupted into applause as the curtain closes in front of me. I walk into the wings after grabbing my music folder and smile shaking slightly.

Mr. Delmas walks back out on the stage and says, "Thank you all for showing support. I hope you enjoyed it. Tomorrow in your classes you will be casting a vote for which performers should perform for the parents when they arrive." He walks back and we all head out in front of the auditorium to see the audience. I sigh and walk out looking around for a way to escape.

"Rose!" I hear from the crowd. William makes his way through the crowd towards me. He hands me a small bouquet of red roses saying, "That was beautiful."

I blush lightly and take the roses saying, "Thank you. I composed the first one and did a cover of the second."

"You've got a beautiful voice. I could listen to you all day," he says cupping my cheek. I blush, smile, and step back from him. "Thank you for that compliment, but I don't do much singing," I say looking at him and over his shoulder waiting for someone.

"You should. You're amazing," William says smiling. "Well, thank you. I'll keep that in mind," I reply trying to maintain my cool. Suddenly I see Ulrich make his way through the throng of people and quickly walk to me. He embraces me tightly and says, "That was magnificent! You were amazing! That first one, you wrote that?"

"Y-Yes. I-I did. I'm really glad you like it," I reply with my cheeks ablaze and twirling a curl in my hair. He gets color flooding to his cheek as well and smiles at me. "How could I not? The others are outside waiting for you."

"Really? Well let's go," I reply happily. Looking at William I smile and say, "See you around William. And thank you for the roses they're beautiful." Ulrich takes my hand and leads me through the crush of people quickly away from William. I suddenly feel myself being pushed to the side away from Ulrich and into a room. The door shuts behind me and the room is pitch black. Banging on the door I yell, "HELP!" After a couple of minutes someone opens the door and it turns out to be, Ulrich. I step into his open arms and hug him. He returns my embrace and smiles. "Don't like the dark?" He asks.

"Not that. Just don't like feeling like I'm being kidnapped." I explain and feel something off. I step back and my eyes get wide. "What?" Ulrich asks me looking concerned.

"I'm missing my shoe," I say calmly. He look confused and I pick up the black skirt showing him my feet, one with a patent leather black pump on and the other, bare besides the black thigh high stockings I had put on. He tries not to laugh and I look at him with narrow eyes. "I'm gonna get the punk that made me lose my shoe. I'M NOT CINDERELLA!" At that, he burst out laughing, doubling over and laughing hard. I smile and laugh seeing him laugh this much, thinking I might be the only person who was able to see him do this.

He kneels down seeing my shoe down on the floor and says, "You may not be Cinderella, but I'll always be your Prince Charming." With my cheeks on fire he lifts my foot and slips my shoe back on. I lower my skirt, hiding my feet from him again and bite my lip twirling a curl in my fingers. He stands up and looks at me, a blush spread across his face as well.

"Well then come on Prince Charming, let's go find the others," I state holding my folder and the roses close to my chest. He holds out his arm for me to take, and I loop my arm around his as we start to walk out of the room and towards our group of friends.


	41. 41

Ulrich's POV

I walk with Rose back to our friends and smile. I couldn't help but use the nickname she'd offered when I called her "Princess" for the first time. Odd looks at us and smiles saying, "That was awesome Rose."

"Thanks Odd," She replies. Jeremy, and Aelita chorus their congratulations and praises and Rose accepts each one. Yumi looks at her and says simply, "Good job Rose. It was a great song."

"Thanks Yumi. I'm glad you thought so."

"Who's it about?" Odd asks smirking, thinking he knows the answer.

"Who said it's about anyone? Maybe it's just an idea I came up with? Ever think of that?" Rose replies smirking and bursting Odd's happy bubble. I laugh seeing his face fall and Rose's light up.

"It was a great song none the less. You wrote it Rose?" Jeremy asks looking at her. She nods and smiles saying, "Yes I did. It was just something I thought about."

"Well, that's going to be a hit," Odd says smiling.

"Are you having a concert?" Aelita asks.

"Maybe over the summer. Or they're planning one sometime. I don't know," she replies shrugging.

"Well, we'll just have to hope you have one during the school year," I say looking at Rose. She blushes lightly and clutches her folder closer to her.

"Thanks Ulrich," she says smiling sweetly.

"You're welcome," I reply smiling, putting my hand behind my head nervously. How is it she's the only one who can make me so nervous?

"Well, I'm kind of tired," Rose says covering a yawn.

"I'll walk you back to your room," I reply, trying to hide my nerves by not shuffling my feet and looking at her instead of the ground.

"Ok," She replies, stepping towards me.

"Good night you guys," Odd says as we walk towards Rose's room. The others chorus their "good nights", and we respond to each one. Walking into the school and towards the dorm rooms Rose walks right beside me and I refrain from wrapping my arm around her shoulder.

"Well, here I am," she says as we stop at her room. She leans against the door and smiles at me.

"Y-yeah. Here you are," I say mentally slapping myself for saying that and sounding stupid. She smiles and hugs me. "Thanks Ulrich. I don't know what I'd do without you," She whispers in my ear.

I return her embrace and smile, saying, "You're welcome Rose."

She lets go of me and kisses my cheek. "Good night Ulrich," she says with a light blush on her cheeks and opening her door.

I catch her arm before she walks in and say, "Can I ask you something?"

She looks at me and nods, waiting for my question. I take a deep breath and say, "Rose, I-I've liked you for some time now. And I was wondering if you would…" I start losing my nerve and thinking she might not like me this way. But I can't help noticing the things she does. She turns away other people, but she might just be not in the mood for someone.

"Ulrich, I like you too. I-I have since I met the Warrior Boy in Lyoko," she says looking at the ground her face a light red.

"O-Oh. Really?" I ask, blushing a bit. She nods and shuffles her feet slightly. "Well, Umm… will you-" I stop as she looks up at me. Her hazel eyes lock with mine and I watch as her smile grows as I finish, "Will you go out with me?"

Her bright smile and the joy in her eyes was all the answer I needed but she hugs me and says gaily, "Yes! Yes I will!"

"I wasn't sure if what happened between us a few weeks ago was enough so I figured I'd ask," I reply returning her embrace and feeling the heat on my face get warmer.

"I wasn't sure either, but I'm glad you asked," she says happily.

"Well, I don't like the looks of some people so…" I state thinking of William and picturing his crushed look when he finds out she has a boyfriend. I grin from the picture and Rose looks at me very confused.

"Sorry," I state simply.

"That was a very… different grin. Almost like you were picturing something bad that was good at the same time. Like Sissy diving off a cliff," she says with an impish twinkle in her eyes.

I chuckle and reply, "Kinda. But I'll never tell you what it is."

"Now that's not nice," she says frowning slightly. I smile and pull her close to me watching the frown turn into a smile.

"I could stay with you forever," she says quietly. I rest my head on hers and reply, "Same here. I can't imagine someone else here."

She steps back and looks up at me smiling. "I should get to bed," she states, covering a yawn.

"Good night Princess," I say, taking her hand and kissing it as a knight would a princess.

She blushes and replies, "Night Warrior Boy." With that she opens her door and walks into her room, waving good night before shutting the door behind her.

I walk back to the dorm room and get ready for bed. Odd, racked out on his bed, snores in response to hearing something in the room. I shake my head and lay down on my bed smiling at the fact I had done what I wanted to do and now, Rose wouldn't have as many suitors… I hope.


	42. 42: My Apologies

MY APOLOGIES! I am having writers block big time! This story is one I love writing and Enjoy hearing the feed back. If you all have Ideas, comments, scenes you want to happen… Message me, comment, Send up smoke signals! ANYTHING!

My inspiration is lacking on this because I'm not exposed to it much anymore and I've got school work. So please… send me your ideas! And I will not be writing in any other characters if you send me one. I'm sorry.

Have fun reading!

Always,

Rosabelle Meave Sterling.

_**UPDATE!**_

I have an Idea and thank you to Mae! I actually have had an idea for the past while... And I will use your idea but change it around a little bit! I have mentioned that Jeremy believes Aelita and Rose to be sisters. If you're a fan of the show... You'll know what comes next because I've mentioned the school dance. I hope you continue reading! Message me any more ideas you have!


	43. 43

Aelita and I have been staying together more as the dance draws closer. We couldn't help but spend time together now because, we wanted to know more about each other and try to remember our lives before all this happened, and not to mention figure out who the girl we saw in Lyoko the last time was. I wake up and see her sitting in a corner holding onto her doll that she had found. I kneel beside her and see her in tears. "Aelita," I say comfortingly. She reaches out and wraps her arms around me saying, "We can't do this anymore! This is dangerous! XANA won't let us go!"

I hold her close and frown. I want more than anything to make sure that my friends, that Ulrich, were safe and sound. I look at the little girl holding me and state, "If they try anything, we know what we have to do."

She nods and wipes her eyes. "No matter what, our friends come first," She says looking into my eyes. I smile at her and help her stand up. "Now go get ready for the day," I tell her smiling. She nods and walks to her room. Sighing I get my shower, brush my teeth and hair, and get dressed. I head to the cafeteria only to realize I'm not all that hungry. Instead of eating something, something was eating at me. Why did our father send us into that terrible place? Why did he send me in when he couldn't get us out? Why did he steal my life from me? Why didn't XANA take all the information from me when he had me under his "control"?

I grab my breakfast and sit at the table pondering the questions in my head, not noticing the people filling in the table around me. "Aelita, Rose, you two should have come back and heard the other things I found," I hear Jeremy say from my left side. I look up and across from me is Aelita who looks at Jeremy. "I didn't have any time to see anything else but now that I have I've been trying to find a time to tell you both the best news of all. It turns out I've been wrong all along," he continues, very proud of himself. Aelita and I mess with our breakfast's not really paying attention to the conversation around us.

"You have?" I hear Ulrich ask beside me a bit shocked by the admission. "Why?"

"I thought that XANA had given Aelita and Rose a virus. So I've been looking for and antivirus. But thanks to Franz Hopper's diary, I finally understand. XANA didn't give them anything at all, in fact, he took something from them," Jeremy explains.

"He did?" Yumi asks from beside Jeremy. "But what?"

"I don't really know yet," Jeremy admits sadly. "It's a fragment that belongs to each of them. I've located them in Sector Five." Aelita and I look at Jeremy out of the corner of our eyes hearing him say that.

"We can go and get it tonight after the end of the year dance," Odd says from right to my left.

"Awesome! It'll be our final mission," Ulrich states with joy, putting his hands behind his head. "And then it's time for a well-earned real vacation."

"Out of the question," Aelita says standing up from her seat.

"I agree!" I say standing up from my own chair, receiving a "Huh?" from everyone seated at the table. Ulrich looks at me and I walk off with Aelita.

I walk off towards my room and hear footsteps behind me. "Rose!" I hear Ulrich call out. "Rose wait!"

I continue walking and feel a hand on my wrist, pulling me to a stop. "Rose, please, what's wrong?" Ulrich asks concerned.

"I refuse to set foot on Lyoko again! I refuse to let my sister or anyone else into that horrible place!" I state angry not at Ulrich for asking, but at someone I couldn't take it out on.

"What? Why?" He asks, trying to get me to open up and holding my hand.

"My father stole my life from me and my sister's life from her! We could have grown up and been normal! Do you understand that I'm really twenty-eight years old? I was in that place for fourteen years! Half of my life was in that world! And ten years of my sister's life! I am NOT setting foot back there!" I reply angrily, rubbing my eyes to fight back tears. I was hurt by my father and lashing out at Ulrich.

"But Rose, don't you know that if you weren't there for all this time, we wouldn't have met?" He asks with a bit of sadness in his voice. "Are you… ashamed or don't like to be here… with me?"

My eyes widen in realization that I hadn't thought about things with him. I turn around and take his other hand seeing his head hung in sadness. "No! No I'm not! Ulrich I care about you! I do! But… If you hadn't been there and found the super computer, you would be normal. You wouldn't be targeted and fighting a computer program that wants to control the world. You would be the captain of the soccer team, have time for a girlfriend and take her on dates, maybe even study a bit. Ulrich, I'm very glad I met you," I explain to him, squeezing his hands gently to let him know I do care.

"What if I didn't want any of that? What if I didn't want to be that way? What if I wanted to be here, with you? Rosie," he says looking me in the eyes and cupping my cheek causing me to blush from his actions and the nickname he used. "Let me help you. You've helped me so much and it's my turn to help you. Please?"

"Ulrich, I'm nothing! I don't remember anything really. I don't know who I am," I reply letting tears well in my eyes.

"Then we'll get the fragment. You'll have everything back! Then we can shut down the super computer and you'll be free to live your life as you would have, with me now," He says grabbing my shoulders.

"What if it goes wrong and XANA gets the keys from my memory? What if something happens and you get hurt? I can't bear to have you hurt because of me. I made sure I never hurt you badly while you were fighting against me. Ulrich… I can't stand to think of you hurt!" I say as tears run down my cheeks as I look into his eyes.

"Rose," he says with pain in his voice. The pain was not caused by me, but it was pain for me, he was hurting because I was. I pull away from him and walk off wiping the tears as I walk sniffling and thinking, I can't let them go in there again. I can't let any of them get hurt.

I walk to the factory and stand on the bridge looking at the worn down building. I hear footsteps behind me and turn to see Aelita standing there. "We said we would," she says quietly. I nod and we start walking into the building, swinging down the chains, and finally enter the elevator. She presses the button to the lowest level and as the doors close she takes my hand. I smile at her and step out of the elevator as the doors open revealing the central part of the super computer. We walk towards the unit and look at it, almost having second thoughts.

Pressing a button on the grey and gold machine, a door opens and a switch comes forth from the recently opened door. Aelita looks at me and we both put our hand on the switch. "We need to save our friends," Aelita says sadly.

"I don't want to leave them, but it will be better for them. They won't have to worry," I say with tears flooding my eyes as I think about Ulrich. We pull the switch and as the computer dies, Aelita and I collapse to the floor with my last thoughts being about Ulrich and how much I love him.


	44. 44

*Ulrich's POV*

I sit with Odd in front of the vending machines as he plays his game on the hand-held console thinking about what Rose had said to me earlier. She says she doesn't want me to be hurt, but I want her to be happy. I want her to remember who she is so she can feel better about herself. I don't think she would without that. I like her just the way she is. She's the only thing my dad approves of that he didn't pick out for me. She's wonderful! But, she can't see it because she wants to know who she was, not who she is.

"Hey guys, have you seen Aelita?" Jeremy asks walking up to us.

"No, I haven't," I reply shrugging my shoulders.

"Well, there's no answer on her phone and the super computer isn't responding. I'm thinking about going and checking it out," he states beginning his departure away from us. Over his shoulder he calls back, "Cover for me with the teachers."

I stand up with Odd and as I start walk to class Yumi walks up to me and says, "Ulrich, I was hoping I could talk to yo-"

"Oh Ulrich!" Sissy bursts in with her nasily and screechy voice. She walks up and hands me a present wrapped in blue paper with a ribbon tied around it. Raising an eyebrow I look from her to the gift and see Yumi almost walk away. "I was hoping you might accept that and go to the dance with me," Sissy states twisting her torso from side to side trying to seem cute.

"I'm already going with someone. I asked them a while ago," I reply handing the gift back to her.

"Keep it," she says smiling. "Well, I'll see you tonight. Maybe you'll want to switch dates." With that offer on the table I take a flying leap past it and know that Rose would far surpass her. Odd, Yumi, and I watch Sissy walk off. "So, you already have a date?" Yumi asks in a semi-strained voice.

"Well, yeah. I have for a while now," I reply looking at Yumi confused.

"Alright, I get it," she says in a mixture of sadness and anger possibly.

"Well, aren't you going with William?"

"You don't know a thing do you?" She says stalking away after scoffing at me.

"Hmmm," Odd says as he watches Yumi walk away. I know that "Hmmm" to be something starting a stupid proverb of his and he's been at them All Day. "One more of your stupid proverbs and you are dead," I threaten coldly before I walk off.

"U-Ulrich has lost his head, and should have stayed in bed!" He yells out after me finally coming up with one. He chases after me saying, "Wait! Wait! I've got another one! Trade your date for Sissy and your future's gloomy 'cause you'll lose Rosie!" He laughs as he runs after me and I stop and turn around when he calls Rose 'Rosie'.

"No one calls her Rosie unless she says so. Got it?" I state glaring at him. He nods and I look around. "I think I'm going to go with Jeremy. Something's just not right," I tell Odd before running off.

"I'll cover for you!" Odd yells back. I make my way through the tunnels catching up with Jeremy easily. "Figured I'd come along in case there was a bug. XANA might have something to do with it," I explain when I get the confused look from Jeremy.

"Alright Ulrich. It's good with me," He says as we make our way to the factory.

*Jeremy's POV*

I walk to the factory and sit at the computer trying to turn it on. The monitor stays blank and nothing comes on. "Hmm, this isn't normal," I say.

"What's going on?" Ulrich asks over my shoulder.

"No idea. I'm going to check the actual computer," I say getting out of the chair and walking back towards the elevator. Ulrich walks with me and I know it's because he doesn't like being alone with the computer. "You really don't like running it?"

"No. I'm a fighter, not a technical person. That's why we have you, Aelita, and Rose. Yumi's good at it too. But I prefer to be in the computer instead of at it," He replies standing beside me in the elevator. As we descend into the bowels of the factory the doors finally open and there on the floor were two bodies. My eyes grow wide as I realize one of them is Aelita and I run to her. "Aelita!" I cry out as I stand next to her limp form.

"Rose!" I hear Ulrich exclaim running to the other form. He holds her in his arms and looks at me. "Do Something!" he yells at me. His face a mask of fear and sadness reflecting the tone in his voice. I run to the switch and flip the computer back on as I had done the first time I found this place. "Aelita!" I say kneeling next to her, and cradling her in my arms. "Answer me! Come on! Aelita!"

"Rose! Please! Come back! Please!" I hear Ulrich plead to the brunette in his arms. I haven't seen him sound so sad or so fragile as I do now. Rose was important to him.

"Wake up!" We both say. And as I look down into Aelita's face she starts to stir and opens her eyes. She sighs and looks up at me. "YOU'RE INSANE! Why did you do that!" I exclaim fearfully.

"To save the world, to save you all!" She replies in a tone similar to defeat.

"We'll save it together and then you'll have your whole life in front of you!" I say trying to get it through her head that we were in this together. "A Brand new life!" I finish, holding onto her tightly.

I look up and see Ulrich holding onto Rose in much the same fashion and smile at the two of them.

~Ulrich's POV~

I hold Rose close and frown with tears threatening to fall from my eyes. "Please don't leave me. I can't," I whisper into her ear. I feel her start to stir in my embrace and I look down into her hazel eyes and ask, "Why? Why did you leave me?"

"Because, I love you and I want to keep you safe. I want to keep everyone safe!" she says with tears welling in her eyes.

"Well it was stupid! We're in this together and I am NOT about to lose you to suicide! Understand?" I say shaking her gently. "I can't lose you. Please," I say looking down at her. She has a single tear running down her face and she looks up at me sadly. "And I don't want to lose you."

"But you did this! This is losing me… Losing us! Life out here isn't so bad. And I can't go back to the way things were. You make things better. You insult Sissy, you put up with Yumi, and you pull me out of a shell I put myself in to protect me from other people letting me down. Rosie, please… don't leave me alone. No one's going to compare to you," I say, finally opening up enough to let out some of the things I had wanted to tell her, that she should know. I hold her close and she returns my embrace tightly.

"I'm sorry. And I love you," She whispers in my ear.

"I love you too," I reply holding her tightly to me. I hear someone clear their throat and I turn around to see Aelita and Jeremy looking at us. Aelita giggles and Jeremy stands there with his arms crossed. "You two done?" He asks us with an eyebrow cocked.

I feel my face flush with a heat and as I look quickly at Rose her face is a nice light crimson as well. I look back at Jeremy and nod. "Good," He says turning his back on Rose and I. "We're going to get the fragments. Now."

"What?" Rose asks standing up.

"We'll do it together Rose. All of us. Then when you're free we'll shut the super computer down and everything will be finished. You can live your life here now," I say standing up and holding her hand.

"But don't you remember what I told you?"

I nod and look at her. "How do you remember that?"

"I remember two dates, my father, and how to run the super computer. That's All." She says mater of factly.

"Alright then. Last mission here we come!" I say joyously. Gripping Rose's hand I look at her and see the worry in her eyes and pull her close. "It'll be alright."

"I trust you Ulrich," She says to me.

"Good. Prince Charming always saves the Princess."

"Oh Hush! That's the knight in shining armor. Get your fairy tales straight," She says laughing and pushing me gently. We walk to the elevator and head back up to the monitor. Jeremy sits down in front of the screen and calls Odd and Yumi, telling them that we were going into Lyoko for the last time. Finally, This will be done and XANA will be destroyed.


	45. 45

~Rose's POV~

"This is the big one guys," Jeremy says as he types on the keyboard. "We're going to get Rose and Aelita's fragments and get rid of XANA once and for all!" I look at the group of people around me and smile at these three warriors, their guide, and the guardian of Lyoko who were once my target and were now my friends.

"Let's go then," Odd pipes up out of nowhere. He walks between Ulrich and I saying, "I'll lead the way." He walks into the elevator followed by Yumi and Aelita.

"Be careful," Jeremy says to us before turning back around to face the monitor. Ulrich takes my hand and leads me to the elevator. The doors close and we descend a couple floors to the scanner room. The three cylinders shine from the metal they are made of and reflect the orangey light from the sources around the room. "I'll send the guys in first," Jeremy's voice says. Ulrich and Odd step towards the scanners and then inside them. "Transfer Ulrich, Transfer Odd, Scanner Ulrich, Scanner Odd, Virtualization," We hear from the intercom. "They're in Ladies. Now it's your turn."

We all step into a scanner and Jeremy starts the process again. "Transfer Yumi, Transfer Aelita, Transfer Rosabelle, Scanner Yumi, Scanner Aelita, Scanner Rosabelle, Virtualization."

As we show up in Lyoko we hang suspending in the air with our arms out in a cross form as our pixeling completes. We then hit the ground with a slightly gentle force. I stand up straight and smile at my yellow clad samurai.

"I'm programming your vehicles. The edge of the sector is North-North-East," Jeremy's voice says. I see the vehicles come up and smile as Ulrich grabs my arm and pulls me to the overbike. "Thanks Ulrich, but you take Aelita. I've got my own way," I say to him, touching the pendant around my neck and in front of the group forms my favorite monster, a manta. Climbing on the top of it I smile as it starts to move. I look and see Ulrich with Aelita on the overbike and nod to them both. With that, we race off down the strip of ice and I curl close to Ulrich not really liking the cold.

"No Monsters?" Jeremy asks us as we travel. We all look around and Odd cheerfully answers, "Nope!"

"Don't you think it's weird?" Yumi asks, suspicion in her tone. She takes point and Jeremy comes back to assure us. "Don't worry. XANA wasn't expecting us."

"You don't know him like I do," I say sadly looking down at the manta beneath me.

"What do you mean?" Odd asks looking at me.

"I mean be on your guard. He's a program after all," I say as a warning looking around and keeping my eyes peeled. Upon reaching the edge of the sector we disembark our transportation and stand at the edge.

"Ok Jeremy. We're here. Enter the code," Aelita says smiling.

"OK. All aboard for Sector Five," Jeremy says with a hint of glee in his voice. Before us appears a spinning white orb with a black XANA's eye. It spins around us and finally absorbs us all. The transporter takes us to Sector Five and I look at Odd who Always has trouble with this part of our journeys.

"What's wrong? Feel like throwing up as usual?" Ulrich asks our feline friend after we're dropped off and he makes a sound. "No. I don't," Odd replies.

"Everyone ready? I'm going to enter the coordinates of the room where I think the fragments are," Jeremy says.

"Alright Jeremy. We're counting on you," Ulrich says to the ceiling. He takes my hand and as the door opens to the corridor, we take off running. Stopped by the wall opening to the corridor, Ulrich and I wait for the door to open since we were there first. As the corridor opens Jeremy's voice tells us, "You have three minutes to find the key and stop the countdown."

We all run through the corridor and look around at the open room with lots of blocks sticking out from the far wall. "I see it." Yumi says pointing up at the switch on the wall.

"Out of reach as usual," Odd says in a depressed tone. I hear the panels of the walls move and from the openings created, creepers crawl out and towards us. "Look out!" Odd calls noticing the monsters. I look to the other wall and see more creepers show up. Ulrich steps in front of us all and deflects the blasts with his saber. Yumi takes the other side and deflects them with her fans. Removing my chakram from my belt I throw it at the line of creepers in front of Ulrich seeing as odd took the ones in front of Yumi. My chakram slices through the creepers like they were butter and comes back to my hand. Another line of creepers appears and Odd and Ulrich start on those.

"We need to get the key!" Odd says as he plays distraction. Yumi and I run towards the wall and I kneel down reaching the wall ahead of her. She continues running and steps into my hand. With a small, cry I lift her up, granting her the momentum to get onto a beam. I see her start to falter and begin making my own way up using the uneven bars as my basis. She starts doing my strategy and missing one she falls. "YUMI!" I call out, knowing I could get her. Extending my arm I grab a hold of her wrist and swing her onto the next beam. She gets on top of the Key beam only to be assaulted by a barrage of fire from a creeper. "Only ten Seconds!" Jeremy's frantic voice calls out.

I see her stumble and quickly get to a close beam throwing my chakram at the creeper killing it as her foot touches the key, sealing everything in place. Catching the circular object I start my descent back to the floor with a few flips, spins, and well, touchy flourishes from gymnastics routines. As I get close to the floor I notice my feet don't touch the ground. Instead, I was in someone's arms. The arms of my Warrior Boy were holding me above the ground. "Thanks Ulrich," I say quietly, blushing a bit.

"Don't mention it Rose," He says setting me down gently. As soon as Yumi hits the ground we look through the newly opened door, which was actually in the floor. "Wanna see how low we can go guys?" Odd asks as we look over the edge.

"I thought you were going to lead the way?" Jeremy says cheekily, throwing Odd's words back at him. I chuckle and jump off the ledge falling onto the next one, beginning our venture down into only XANA knows where.


	46. 46

Ulrich easily passes us all and waits for a bit at certain landings, only to jet ahead of us again. Aelita and I do pretty well keeping up with him but still get beaten. We finally come to the final landing and we look out into the room. "Jeremy, there's something shining over there," Ulrich says looking at a bright light at the far end of the room.

"That's It!" Jeremy exclaims. "That is Aelita and Rose's missing fragments!"

Aelita and I Run off towards our fragments and the others follow close behind. To our right, a creeper comes up on a moving section of the room and Yumi says, "Look out!" She yells as she gets shot from behind from another creeper. Ulrich ushers Aelita and I forward and we run off, leaving Odd and Yumi to fight the creepers. More of the creepy monsters show up and Ulrich waves Aelita and I ahead, taking his katana in hand and looking at the creeper. I run with Aelita and hold my chakram ready should anything try to stop us. We run to the edge of the platform and stop. "How do we cross?" Aelita asks looking at me worried.

"I don't know Aelita. I can't do anything to bridge the gap!"

"Can you make a manta?" she asks looking at me. I shake my head no and look around the room. "Any monster I make here, XANA controls immediately. I wouldn't be able to stop it and they would attack our friends," I explain quickly, seeing our friends surrounded by creepers. I run back up the stretch of floor and stop a good ways back. Turning back towards Aelita I take off running full tilt. As I reach the edge of the platform I jump into a hand spring and tuck myself into a ball spiraling across the gap. Unfurling myself in the air I smile and land on my feet on the platform. "YES!" I cry out joyfully.

I turn and look to Ulrich, Aelita, and Yumi, on the other side. Looking past them I see Odd get devirtualized. Ulrich and Yumi talk with Aelita and they all run to the edge of the platform and Yumi and Ulrich launch Aelita between them onto the platform. Ulrich grabs the edge and I quickly lean over and grab his hand seeing Yumi get devirtualized. Ulrich grabs my hand and I pull him up. "Come on Princess, let's get going," He says smiling at me.

Nodding I run with him and Aelita, only to have the entire sector start crumbling around us. We run through the sector trying to get to the orbs at the end of the walk way. Jumping from platform to platform we ascend towards our goal. Ulrich helps Aelita and I up the platforms until finally everything fall from underneath us. We all yell as we fall into the abyss… until we land on something. Below each of us is a manta glowing blue and moving towards the fragments. Aelita and I look at each other and smile. "Dad," We say in unison. We finally reach the top and Ulrich stays on his manta with the rest of the sector caving in around us. As Aelita and I move to our respective orbs and touch them, the orbs disintegrate, leaving nothing. "Jeremy? Is anything happening?" I ask looking around.

"No… I don't see anything," Jeremy says as he probably types frantically. I turn to see Ulrich get squished by a falling ceiling tile. "NO!" I scream as he devirtualizes. Turning back around I see two Scyphozoa and one quickly grabs me before I can grab my chakram. So far… this mission Sucks the most.

~Ulrich's POV~

I lean against the side of the scanner for a second hating the return trips like that. I run up to the computer and hear Jeremy panicking and see Yumi and Odd worrying. "There wasn't anything I could do," I state sadly.

"Scyphozoa have Rose and Aelita! XANA's taking everything!" Jeremy says trying his best to do what he can. We watch the numbers on each of the pop up windows decrease down to zero. "Rose!" I let out in a strangled cry as Jeremy does with Aelita's name. There was nothing we could do. I swore I wouldn't hurt her. I swore I would protect her… But she was left alone in there. She and Aelita…. Were gone.

We look at the screen and see Sector Five go completely dark. In each sector the key tower activates and we know something is going to happen. "What's going on?" Yumi asks confused.

"It's XANA. XANA got what he wanted; he has the keys to Lyoko. He'll use them to get out of the super computer," Jeremy explains in a voice full of unshed tears.

"So, there's nothing we can do," I ask quietly, turning my sadness to anger at XANA for what he did and at myself for pushing Rose to go in.

"Without Aelita and Rose, there's nothing possible we can do," Jeremy says somberly, looking at the screen in front of him. There has to be something. Some way to get them back. I just know there's a way.


	47. 47

~Rose's POV~

My mind rests blank for a while until pictures flood back into my mind. A small home in the teeming city of, London is the picture before me. A small girl with brown hair and pink streaks walks home with her pink haired mother and they walk up to the house. With a proper English accent the little girl asks the woman carrying bags of groceries, "Am I going to have a sister?"

"You might dear," the mother replies. "You just might."

"I want one. Will she have your hair or Daddy's? I have a mix!" She says gaily, plucking at the curls in her hair. Her mother laughs and says, "I know you do Rosabelle. I know. And it is beautiful. You always get hyper after your meets."

"Well, floor this time was fun! I stuck all my tricks!" She rejoices.

"I am so proud of you. And your father is too. You got gold today and you'll continue at it the farther you go," mother states resting a hand on the shoulder of younger me. Tears well in my eyes seeing my life play out before me. I see the growing up of myself and my sister Aelita. I see us move to Paris because father was working on something he wasn't supposed to.

The scene shifts to us playing in the snow at our vacation lodge where we went skiing, where Mom and Dad went skiing when they were pregnant with me and then with Aelita. "Can you see mommy?" Aelita asks rolling a large snowball.

"Watch us!" I call out. Aelita and I start building our snowman as mom calls out, "Don't you two go very far!"

We build our snowman and go inside to get hot chocolate. "We made a great snowman Lita," I say with only the slightest hint of the British accent I had as a younger child.

"We did Rosie! We did!" she replies giggling and sipping her cocoa. I smile and drink mine looking around. Aelita opens a gift from the Christmas tree and grins. "He's so cute!" She says, revealing the elf doll. "What should I call him?" She asks us.

"What about Mr. Puck?" Dad offers up as a suggestion. Aelita grabs the doll and holds it tightly.

"Do you like him?" Mom asks smiling.

"I do! Thank you Mommy! Thank you Daddy!" she says, hugging each parent in turn.

I open my gift to see a beautiful porcelain doll dressed as a gymnast and a plush white wolf. I gasp and smile brightly, "Mom, Dad! She's beautiful!"

"We thought you'd enjoy her," Dad says smiling at me.

"For our beautiful athlete," Mom says smiling. I grab the plushie wolf and hold it close to me. "I love them. Thank you so Much!" I say grinning from ear to ear.

"Now, what do you have Rosabelle?" Dad asks looking at me.

"My present is a song," I say as I stand up and walk to the piano. Sitting on the wooden bench I smile and let my hands run across the ebony and Ivory keys. I sing the words I wrote along with the music and let the joy of my family and their love pour into the music. After finishing Mom, Dad, and Aelita all look at me with bright smiles on their faces. Aelita runs and hugs me tightly. "That's the best present ever. I want a song Every gift time!"

I laugh as the scene fast forwards. "MOMMY! NO!" I yell seeing my mother being dragged away by people in black. Dad grabs my arm and pulls me away along with Aelita. We scream and cry until I finally grab Aelita and run with my father making it easier to get away from everyone following us.

Once again the scene shifts showing me a bit older looking at a worktable in dad's workshop. "Dad, you need to eat something," I say holding out a tray with food on it.

"She's done," He says happily. He takes the tray setting it on the table and quickly programs something into the computer. Suddenly the girl on the table sits up and looks at me. I gasp and step backwards. The girl looks at me and says, "I'm ready to serve, your highness."

"I'm not a princess! Just, call me Rose," I say quickly and very confused. The blonde girl tilts her head and blinks looking at me.

"She will be a part of our family now. She is your sister Rosabelle, she is designed to protect you and Aelita," Dad says about the blonde girl.

"But Dad… how do we-"

"I developed a formula that allows cybernetics to be used as humanoid beings. She is an android but she functions more like a human. She eats, sleeps, grows up, and does everything you can do for the most part. She just needs data and memory chips, maybe some oil here and there, but she is essentially human," Dad explains simply. I blink trying to get past the fact she called me princess and was an android.

"Ok dad, I'll take care of her," I say looking at the greying man. "But you need to eat."

The scene shifts more showing me my life growing up with my two sisters. Finally the scene changes to the last day I had on Earth. I had helped Aelita get Mr. Puck and headed to the factory. My middle sister was sleeping upstairs and I went to dad's lab. Then he sent me into Lyoko. After overseeing project Carthage alone for four years, Dad and Aelita come in only, dad doesn't do something right. XANA Sees the opportunity and tries to take the keys from Aelita and I. Dad stops him but XANA gets fragments of our memories. The computer shuts down and we fall asleep, me knowing I served XANA, and Aelita only knowing to run from me and the monsters I made and sent after her.

~Jeremy's POV~

I try my best to get things back online, and suddenly, something happens in the computer. "What's going on Jeremy?" Ulrich asks behind me.

Realization streaks across my mind followed closely by awe. "It's Franz Hopper," I state awestricken, as I push up my glasses. "He's bringing Lyoko back to life."

"Look! It's incredible," Yumi says as we watch the zeros in Aelita and Rose's popup windows start climbing. "Franz Hopper is saving his daughters," I say with amazement in my voice. I quickly materialize Aelita and Rose and say, "To the Scanner room quick!" We all run to the elevator and pray that it moves quickly. As we stand in front of the scanners, the doors on two open up and inside stand Rose and Aelita, looking worse for the wear. They try to step out but end up falling to the floor. I gasp and kneel down next to Aelita calling her name. I hold her in my arms and she looks up at me and says, "Jeremy?"

I hug her tightly and see Ulrich holding Rose in much the same fashion. They were back! Franz Hopper saved his daughters lives.

~Rose's POV~

After that hectic trip to Lyoko and dying for the brief time, I finally have my memories back. I remember everything! We sit in Jeremy's dorm room, Aelita and I on the wall edge of his bed, Ulrich sitting on the table nearby me, Odd on the foot of the bed, Jeremy at his computer, and Yumi on a corner of the bed near Aelita. Aelita holds Kiwi in her lap and pets him. "Ok, will someone say something funny before I have a heart attack?" Odd asks somberly.

"My father sacrificed himself for us and we don't even know if he's still on Lyoko," Aelita states sadly.

"Excuse me while I have my heart attack," Odd says laying back on the bed.

"All those memories of your life on Earth, That was the fragment XANA took from each of you," Jeremy states looking at us both. "To Bind you to him. Franz Hopper managed to get them back to you."

"Now you two are free," Ulrich says, standing in his normal stance, arms crossed over his chest and leaning against something. "But unfortunately so is XANA."

"Shutting the super computer down isn't going to kill XANA anymore," Yumi interjects with worry. "What are we going to do!?"

"Same as always," Jeremy says sternly. "We'll fight." He rises from his chair and walks over to us saying, "XANA may have become more powerful, but I don't think he's invincible. If he attacks, we'll counter attack. We'll find a way to get rid of XANA for good."

"And we'll do everything we can to find your dad you two," Yumi states comfortingly to Aelita and I. Kiwi moves from Aelita's lap and I look around at the group.

"You're right, the fight has to go on," Aelita states quietly. "After all, fighting XANA is my job."

"Not just your job Aelita," I interject looking at my sister and taking her hand. "I may have worked under him for a while, but I was sent to Lyoko to make sure he did his job. If he did things wrong, I fought him down. It's our job to fight XANA."

"No you two," Jeremy says and we look from each other to the group that had joined hands and made a circle of sorts. "It's Our job." Aelita takes Yumi's hand and I take Odd's and we sit there for a bit, enjoying the time we have and the bonds we make. "There's someone else we need to find," I say looking at the group. Aelita looks at me and smiles.

"Who?" Odd asks looking at us.

"Our other sister," I say smiling.

"You have another sister?" Yumi asks.

"Yes," I reply. Aelita smiles and in unison we say the name, "Wispur."


	48. 48

**A/N: Thank you to TheShiningShadow who helped me get past everything. You're amazing and this chapter is for you! :D (SPOILERS! Be on the Look out for a sequel!)**

Jeremy did a return to the past and it was the day of the dance all over again. Aelita and I go to our classes, everything working out right. When classes ended Aelita and I walked to my room. I help her get ready, doing her hair and makeup. As I look in the mirror I smile at my younger sister, knowing these were things we would have done even if we hadn't been put into Lyoko.

"Rosie," Aelita asks quietly.

"Yes Lita?" I reply in a comforting tone.

"Do you think we'll find her? Wispur?"

"I think we already did," I state, remembering the blonde girl dressed in white on Lyoko. Aelita smiles as she remembers the person as well. "Very true. Do you think she remembers us?"

I shake my head, letting the curls in my hair bounce a bit from the movement. "I'm not quite sure, Lita," I say quietly, putting a nice clip in her hair to keep her bangs out of her eyes.

"She was programed to remember everything," She replied watching me in the mirror. "I know she was. But XANA must not have gotten her because if he did, he'd have already gotten out. She holds everything to Lyoko," I reply sweetly.

"Yeah," Aelita says with a sigh. "Rosie, can I get glitter with my make up?"

I smile at the question and remember the first time she asked that. With a chuckle I nod and get out my glitter. "Alright. You remember asking that before?" I ask before starting to apply it around her eyes gently. She closed her eyes and nodded slightly. "Yes. You were getting ready to do a gymnastics meet. I wanted the glitter like you because you were so pretty. I thought the glitter would make me as pretty as you."

"You are beautiful Aelita. You truly are," I reply, putting a light dusting of glitter in her hair to finish. "There." Aelita looked at her makeup and smiled. "Thank you Rosie!" She says pulling me close in a hug. Returning the embrace, a smile crosses my lips. I had a part of my family back. And I will do whatever it takes to keep her safe, get my other sister, and protect my friends and the world.

I apply my own makeup and smile at the way it makes my eyes shine. The green makes my eyes shine and the slight bit of glitter draws attention to them. I put a necklace on and smile at the cameo on it. Aelita and I get into our dresses, mine a dark green, tea-length dress that had a lot of material in the skirt to twirl around. The scooped neckline is sweet and simple, going into cap sleeves on my shoulders. The black bolero rests around my shoulders giving me a bit more coverage. The black lace high heels I put on give me a slight bit of height and make me feel more feminine. Aelita's is a nice purple slip dress, complementing her hair color well.

With one last look over each other and in the mirror, we head to the gym where the dance would be held. I smile seeing everyone around and look for my date. I feel arms wrap around me from behind and gasp slightly at the sudden feeling. "Hello Rose," I hear Ulrich say quietly in my ear.

"Hello, Ulrich," I reply smiling. I turn around in his arms and look up at him. "Ready to do this?"

"As long as I have you I can get through a lot," he states with a smile. We head into the gym and meet up with the others. We sit at a table for a while, talking and enjoying the night. Hearing a song I smile and get up, rushing out to the dance floor, getting into the crowd. The dance comes naturally and I have the time of my life. The sway of my hips and the rhythm of the dance were all in synch. I don't care what anyone has to say about the way I moved. As the song ends another comes on and I can't help but smile. It's the perfect one to drag Ulrich out here to. I look over and smile, crossing through the crowd to Ulrich. As I walk up to him I sing with the music, "Don't be afraid, take my hand/ Forget the world/ Will you dance, dance with me/ Puedomos bailar eternamente/ Trust in me, take a chance/."

He smiles at me and reluctantly gets up taking my hand and walking me back out to the dance floor. "I'm not good at this," he mutters in my ear. "But that's why you have me," I reply with a grin. "I make everything showy. You just move. Don't worry, I've got you."

My assurances seem to pay off and we have fun dancing. Soon our group was out on the floor and we were all dancing and having fun. Each time Sissy tries to come up, Ulrich pulls me close and dances with me, kissing my cheek and holding onto me. We all dance the night away and I step outside to breathe and cool down. I feel a hand on my shoulder and smile. "You know… it's the end of the year," Ulrich says quietly.

"I know," I reply looking over my shoulder at him. "What about it?"

"I-I was wondering… if maybe you wanted to… I dunno, uh… come home with me?" He offered. "I mean my dad likes you and all and I'm sure my mother will love you. If you wanted to you could."

"I would love to Ulrich. I'd just have to let some people know where I'm going," I state with a grin.

"That reminds me," He interjects, sitting down beside me. "How did you go viral?"

"My dad had a recording of me singing. They had video cameras back then yes. And he had uploaded the video on the supercomputer. So the instant the supercomputer came on, he found the video and sent it out through the web. Bam! Instant celeb," I explain simply.

"Wow, so… he had been planning this?"

"I have no clue," I reply. "But without him, I wouldn't have been here." Looking at the school we hear a slow song come on. Ulrich pulls me up and in his arms, beginning to waltz me around as we had the first time we'd met. He quietly sings the song in my ear along with the music. "If I never knew you, if I never felt this love, I would have no inkling of how precious life can be."

As the song played on we look at each other and smile. The song fit us so well. We were together, my memory is back, and we were going to rescue my other sister. Things were looking bright. Ulrich pulls me close and kisses me sweetly. Nothing could top this, and I swear I'll kick XANA's programmed ass if he tries to ruin this moment.


End file.
